Full text of "Amiga Game Zone - Issue 2 (1994-05)(Amiga Game Zone)(US)"

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AMERICA'S ONLY AMIGA GAMES MAGAZINE

! ML/ LLW2

MAY/JUNE

USA $7.95
CAN $9.95

REVIEWED

IN THIS ISSUE

MICROCOSM CD32

PROTECT AMIGA GAME ZONE STAFFS MERI CUNNINGHAM
FROM A RIVAL SYNDICATE IN THIS FUU.Y PtAYABlE MISSION
FROM BULLFROG'S NEW AMERICAN REVOLT DATA DISK!

wmtMm

I - Jbtf tolled if (he Setsnd Ameritm
Stvoiufij.-i. Tfieir Silt of fighfj wot
the buunESi End at a Gouji Gvn

rhdught SynJrcofe was too easy?
; tjjjjt* ie preoered for s rude owolcenino.
r^-^-"" Nil's fim*. ffieyre rsody for you...

'I AMIGA
AMERICAN REVOLT I- * I

LIBERATION

MINDSCAPE RELEASES ANOTHER CAPTIVE

PLUS THE BEST OF 7993 AND A NEW COLUMN BY PETER OLAFSON!

'Wow. No, let me try that again. WOW.
No, that still doesn't quite say it. Can
we roll a bigger typeface in here?

I - *\

Asteroids was never
remotely like this. "

RATED A

PETER OLAFSON

AMIGA WORLD

APRIL 1994

XTpre

ASTEROIDS WITH ATTITUDE.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR AGZ READERS:
For a limited time, you can order
Stardust for HALF PRICE! Get this
incredible Amiga-only game and
amaze your PC owning friends!

RETAIL S49.95 - NOW ONLY Send your check or money order

(please include $3 for shipping
and handling) to STARDUST DISK
OFFER, clo Amiga Game Zone, 103
West California, Urbana, IL 61801.

STARDUST AUTOBOOTS IN PAL AND REQUIRES THE FAT AGNUS CHIP. THE GAME RUNS ON ALL AMIGAS EXCEPT THE A3000 AND AJ000I040.

THANK YOU for making the launch
of Amiga Gavie Z.one magazine a
success! We're striving to provide
you with the best Amiga, AGA, and CD 32
games coverage this side of the pond, and
we've been listening to your comments and
suggestions on how to improve the maga-
zine. Please keep those letters and reader
service cards coming in!

The most apparent change you will
notice is that we've improved the brightness
and contrast of all the screenshots (we hope-
only our printer knows for sure!) Many of
you have also urged us to go full-color, and
we would love to do just that. However,
color ain't cheap, folks. We were able to
print color screenshots of the most popular
games reviewed in this issue on our back
cover, and we hope to integrate more color
pages and screenshots into future issues.

We've received
many positive
comments, especially
about our CD-' 2
coverage , game
compatibility info,
Eurocharts, and tips
section. In this issue,
we've enhanced and
expanded on each of
these aspects to give
you more of what
you've requested.

Now for the big news. By a margin of
over 2 to 1, readers favor receiving a cover
disk with each issue. Though we were some-
what reluctant at first, we finally arrived at a
solution that will satisfy both groups. In the
future, you will find Amiga Game 7.one on
the newsstands and in computer stores with
a cover disk packed with great demos like
this issue's Syndicate: American Revolt
mission! And if you don't want the cover
disk, we give you the option of subscribing
to the magazine with or without the disk.
We think you'll like our picks for future
coverdisks - we've vowed to accept nothing
less than top-notch games. Now for those of
you saying "yeah, whatever" to that state-
ment, please stop reading and boot up this
issue's disk. We guarantee you won't be back
to this column for at least half an hour. We
like to think of our coverdisks as the ones
that our readers don't feel the urge to refor-
mat!

And now that we've addressed most of
your gripes, we've got a few "friendly sugges-
tions" of our own...

01-A45D New Europe
Geofl Miller
I Male Human, 23 years IS
Freelance assassin

HEY, COMMODORE! GET RID OF YOUR
"STEALTH MARKETING" CAMPAIGN FOR
THE CD 32 IN AMERICA - ADVERTISE!

And we don't want to see that dopey
kid levitating his house again. Sheesh! Take
a lesson from the aggressive television, print,
and outdoor marketing campaign that has
proven to be effective for Commodore U.K.
You have the best hardware, the largest soft-
ware library, the best price point... but unless
you let people know about it over here, the
CD 32 will ultimately fail in the U.S. market.

HEY, CD 32 DEVELOPERS! YOU'VE GOT
OVER 600MB TO PLAY WITH - TAKE FULL
ADVANTAGE OF THE MEDIUM!

Too many CD 32 releases just reek of
blatant shovelware - why do we have to be
subjected to a
picture of a floppy
disk when a CD
game is loading?
Microcosm is a step
in the right direc-
tion, but we'd like to
see more of that
storage devoted to
gameplay instead of
graphics and sound.
Another route is to
bundle complete
software catalogs on a single disc - person-
ally I'd love to see a Sierra/Dynambc,
Cinemaware, or LucasArts compilation CD.

HEY, AMIGA GAME PUBLISHERS! THIS IS
1994 - GIVE US HARD DRIVE SUPPORT!

Look at Star Trek - 25th Anniversary
from Interplay. It's AGA only and requires a
hard drive. And, amazingly enough, it's
among the top selling AGA games both
here and in the U.K. It's time that software
publishers realize that hard drive installability
is a necessity. As a general policy, Amiga
Game 7.one will not give a straight "A" rating
to any game that cannot be installed.

It looks like I've run out of space for my
tirade. And just when I was about to jump
up on my soapbox again to campaign for
more Amiga sports games (sorry, soccer
doesn't count). I realize that neither Amiga
Game 2,one nor the Amiga industry in
general will ever be perfect, but that doesn't
mean we can't keep improving. ■ GM

Body Blows Galactic

Bubba W Stix

Burning Rubber ,

Cannon Fodder . ......

Combat Air Patrol ,

Dinosaur Detective Agency...

Disposable Hero

F-117A Stealth Fighter 2.0 ....

Frontier - Elite 2

Fury of the Furries

Jet Strike

Jurassic Park

Liberation

Mortal Komhat

Rise of the Robots - PRF.11EW.

Seek & Destroy

Settlers

Simon the Sorcerer

Suburban Commando

Turrican 3

When Two Worlds War

Winter Olympics

Zool2

Body Blows Galactic

Burning Rubber

Chaos Engine

D/Generation

Isharl

Jurassic Park

Overkill

Pinball Fantasies

Simon the Sorcerer

Alfred Chicken

Alien Breed SE / Qwak

Arabian Nights

Bubba 'N' Stix

Castles 2

CD Sports Football

Chambers of Shaolin

Chaos Engine

Chuck Rock

Dangerous Streets

Deep Core

Disposable Hero

Donk!...

Fire Force

Frontier- Elite 2

International Karate Plus

John Barnes Soccer

Labyrinth of Time

Liberation

Lotus Trilogy

Microcosm

Nigel Mansell's World Championship.

Oscar

Pirate's Gold!

Prey - An Alien Encounter

Project-X SE / F17 Challenge ....

Seek & Destroy

Seven Gates of Jambala

Super Putty

RM1GR
GRME ZONE

PUBLISHER

Ralph Barbagallo
Brian Bosley
Jason D'Aprile
Dave Fleming
John Gray
Hob Hays

COLUMNIST

GeoffMillc

Jason Lowe

Rick Micetie

Eric Pcnn

Mark Pulokas

f lans Vahlenkamp

Robert Van Buren

Mike Cole
Tim Stiles

Peter Olafson

PHOTO FEATURE

Producer; Mike Miller

Uniform: Chicago Power

Game: Gremlin Graphics

Model: Mcri Martha Cunningham
Photo; Kyle Beachy & Brian StauiYer

SUBSCRIPTIONS

SIX ISSUES - S 19.95 postpaid
WITH DISKS -S34.95 postpaid

Send check or money order to:

AMIGA GAME ZONE

103 W. CALIFORNIA

URBANA, IL 61801

Orders: 1-800-32-AMIGA
Info; 1-217-344-3478
Fax: 1-217-344-3478

Internet E-Mail Atidress;
gamezone@'fircfly.prairienet.org

AMIGA GAME ZONK is puhlished bi-
monthly for S19.95 for si* issues (S34.95
with disks) bv Amiga Game Zone, 103 W.
California, Urban*, IL 61801. Second-
class postage paid at Urbana, IL. POST-
MASTER: Send address changes to Amiga
Game 'Zone, 103 VV. California, Urbana, IL
61801. Amiga Game Zone is not connected
with Commodore Business Machines, Inc.
All games and characters in this magazine
are copyright © 1994 by their respective
owners. All other material copyright ©
1994 Amiga Game 'Zone. By the way, kids,
there are monkeys in my bathwater.

NEW U.K. RATINGS SYSTEM

For Ages • Pour Ages • Para Arios • Furjahren ^g? 0^^^k fe

0-10 )/

11-14 )/

''mm

15-17 \/

18+ \/

THE U.K. has been in a frenzy during
the last few months as the tabloids
and other media have increasingly
blamed the playing of computer games for a
myriad of social ills. Parents and politicians
alike have been calling for regulation. In an
attempt to avoid government mandate, the
games industry has announced its own
ratings system advising consumers of
computer game content.

The European Leisure Software
Publishers' Association (ELSPA) has
approved a system whereby each software
publisher rates its own games. Four age
categories have been chosen: 0-10, 11-14,
15-17, and 18+. Beginning May 1, every
disk, cartridge, and CD game is supposed to
show all four age groups with checks next to
the appropriate age ratings. A cartoon logo
(Monitor Man) was also proposed as part of
the rating illustration but has since been
dropped due to industry disapproval.

While this self-regulator}' system was
accepted unanimously last year by the
complete ELSPA membership, the games
industry seems to be reluctant to actually

implement it. Some publishers question the
use of all four ratings on every product and
suggest using a method similar to that of the
film industry by simply listing only the
appropriate rating for each particular game.
There is also concern that some software
houses may include irrelevant violence or sex
scenes in a game in order to obtain an 18+
rating, making it off limits (and therefore
more enticing) to younger consumers.

The biggest drawback of this system is
that ELSPA has no real power to enforce its
directive. Nintendo and Acclaim, current
ELSPA members, have already made it clear
that they plan to ignore the new classifica-
tion system. Both companies would rather
see a universally accepted plan in place and
are anxiously waiting to see what kind of
ratings standard the United States devises.

While other companies are also hoping
for something better to appear, most
publishers have agreed to use this system.
Most grudgingly concede that self-regula-
tion beats government legislation any day.

How long will it be before we here in
the U.S. face the same situation? ■

HAMMER TIME
AGAIN

CORE DESIGN is set to pound the

competition with Heimdall II: Into

the Hall of Worlds. This time

VH Heimdall sacrifices his divinity in

order to search for the six pieces of

a magical amulet. With this powerful

amulet in his possession, Heimdall will be

able to imprison Loki, nemesis of the gods.

The sequel retains the smoothly

animated cartoon-style sprites that made

the original game so popular. Now there are

six new lands to explore, each of which

includes stunning background animations

and visual effects. Look for a complete

. review in our next issue. ■

I -^ rr-k v-»^

NOTES!

GRAPHIC

ADVENTURE

SHOWDOWN

fcapiitD

HARD DRIVE owners, rejoice! Two new
multi-disk adventure games are gunning for
the top spot held by Monkey Island 2.

Beneath a Steel Sky (about S50, see
above) from Virgin is first out of the gate
and spans an incredible IS disks. With visu-
als designed by Watchmen comics artist
Dave Gibbons, this cyberpunk adventure
looks like a real winner.

King's Quest 6 (about S50, see below)
from Sierra is the long-awaited conversion
from the PC adventure of the same name.
KQ6 has 8 disks for your installing pleasure.

Ironically, both games were produced
by Revolution Software, the team responsi-
ble for Lure of the Temptress. Expect true
conversions, not just PC ports! ■

STRATEGIC PLANS

FROM R.A.W.
ENTERTAINMENT

IF YOU are alarmed about the plethora of
platform games available for the Amiga and
the distinct lack of true strategy games,
R.A.W. Entertainment's plans for 1994
should be welcome news. R.A.W. is one of
the few remaining games publishers for the
Amiga that sells exclusively in the U.S.
Currently, four new releases are planned for
spring, three of which are strategy titles.

Suez 73 (S34.95) is a modern day
strategic simulation based on the GDW
board game of the same name. The game's
setting is the Israeli-Arab conflict of 1973.

Step aside, Ghengis! Take control of
the Mongol hordes in Mongol
Commander (S34.95), the detailed simula-
tion of the battles of Ghengis Khan. Do
battle with an array of infantry, archers, and
light and heavy cavalry.

B-29 (S29.95) allows you to play the
role of any one or all of the crew members
of a B-29 on a series of detailed missions.
Ten man years in the making, R.A.W.
claims this one to be one of the most
detailed flight simulations produced.

Finally, for shoot 'em up fans, Wildfire
(S29.95) offers a unique game save feature.
It eliminates the frustration of dying at the
start of the final level and then having to
play all the previous levels again! Why can't
every game include this ability?

R.A.W. Entertainment is different
from traditional games publishers in that it
sells directly to customers. To inquire about
these titles, call (713) 286-2386. ■

BETTER CONCEPTS
GOES PUBLIC!

PUBLIC DOMAIN, that is. The guys at Better
Concepts announce that after 8 years, they
are now the "leading" Amiga PD company
that sells only the very best public domain
software. They have literally thousands and
thousands of disks and packages available,
as well as a large supply of CD-ROM titles.
They also publish their own line of CDs,
including the only Amiga-format adult
entertainment CD (for those of you over
18). Sexual Fantasies (SS9.95) is compati-
ble with all CD-equipped Amigas, includ-
ing the CD . For more information on
their full line of PD software titles, call
(914) 639-5095. ■

PLATFORMER WITH

A SOCIAL CONSCIENCE?

PINKIE EMBODIES the spirit of the caring
90's with its unique pallette of pastel colors.
Millenium has given us a most unlikely hero
who is afraid of heights, can't run very fast,
and refuses to kill anything. Yet Pinkie vows
to search the universe for the last few
remaining dinosaur eggs. What a guy! ■

RMERICRN
TOP 20

This month we've broken down the
charts into two lists, one for standard
Amiga releases and another for AGA-
only games. Look for the American
CD 32 charts in the CD 32 section at the
center of the magazine.

1 Frontier - Elite 2

2 Mortal Kombat

3 Cannon Fodder

4 Settlers

5 Liberation

6 Innocent Until Caught

7 Wing Commander

8 Second Samurai

9 Stardust

10 Jurassic Park

11 Kings Table

12 Puggsy

13 Syndicate

14 Sg ace Legends

15 Tornado

16 F 117A Stealth Fighter 2.0

17 Fly Harder
IS Cool Spot

19 Award Winners

20 Blue and the Gray

1 Star Trek - 25th Anniversary

2 Second Samurai

3 Civilization

4 Jurassic Park

5 Ishar

6 Morph

7 Ishar 2

8 Ryder Cup Golf

9 Pinba|l Fantasies
lO Naughty Ones

American charts provided by

bmd

British Magazine Distributors

EURORERN
TOP 20

Cannon Fodder continues to domi-
nate the U.K. sales charts with stellar
reviews from all 5 major Euro mags.
The most surprising entry lias to be
the original Zool (#18) with no
mention of its successor, Zool 2.

1 Cannon Fodder

2 Frontier - Elite 2

3 Premier Manager 2

4 Settlers

5 Skidmarks

6 Winter Olympics

7 Liberation

8 Championship Manager 93

9 Mortal Kornbat

10 Award Winners - Gold Edition

11 Sensible So«er 92/93

12 Championship Manager Italia

13 Jurassic Park

14 Blue and the Gray

15 Simon the Sorcerer

16 Second Samurai

17 Micro Machines

18 Zool

19 Syndicate

20 Super frog

1 Ryder Cup Golf

2 Simon the Sorcerer

3 Sim Life

4 Star Trek - 25th Anniversary

5 Brutal Football

6 Civilization

7 Jurassic Park

8 Alien Breed 2

9 Burning Rubber
10 Diggers

hunpean

charts

provided

: ELSPA -:

>/* * *.*f

AGA-ONLY
SHOOTER

f^3

THE YEAR is 1999. The place is Earth. But it
is the Earth of a different timeline, where
the last two world wars were never fought
and where technology hasn't advanced
beyond the propeller-driven fighter plane.

When Blardax Maldrear decides it's
time to take over, only one man with his
incredible fighter plane has the guts to stand
in the way... but do you really care about the
plot? I didn't think so. All you really need to
know is that Banshee from Core Design
could very well be the next SW1V for the
AGA crowd. CD-" owners get an enhanced
version with a FMV intro sequence! ■

PROGRAMMER
WANTED

COULD YOU program a chess game? One of
the most interesting concepts we've heard in
quite a while was submitted to us in hopes
of finding a suitable programmer.

Armageddon: Doomsday Chess is a
unique four-player chess variant with rules
similar to the original game. The project is
still in the design stage, but it looks very
promising from the screenshot shown here.
Many options could be implemented, but
we think support for a four-way null-
modem link would put this game over the
top. Interested coders should contact
Gerald Welch at (903) 685-2698. ■

International
Networking
Corporation

5100 E. La Palma Avenue #118

Anaheim Hills, CA 92807

(714)777-3703

FAX (714)777-7182

WE SPECIALIZE IN THE AMIGA WE ONLY IMPORT THE TOP EUROPEAN TITLES

Curopecin Software

find Magazines!

■i>.

>ma.

Bruce
Smith
Books

^*n^

- "%-., . —

^.j

First in the USA with NEWTifies
Best Selection of Games & Peripherals
Charts and New Release Schedules
/Aggressive Pricing and Availability
PRE Tested for NTSC Compatibility
Aways a Large Selection of Stock
Knowledgable Sales Staff
Same Day Worldwide Shipping

♦

Hard Drives v
' . & Peripherals^.

MEMORY HARD DRIVES AMIGA HARDWARE CD 32 TITLES Al 200 TITLES

THE QUALITY

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4 O F : r

FOR OUR
RERDERS

JIDE TO OUR REVIEWS

Our reviewers are truly devoted. They play
games until their hands get raw and blis-
tered or until their minds go numb. (For
some of us that's about five or six seconds.)
Each reviewer then assigns a grade to the
game he or she has so painstakingly tested.

To maintain some consistency, each grade
is evaluated by the editors. Any major
discrepancies between the grade and either
the reviewer's text or the opinions of the
editors result in debate, re-evaluation, and
subsequent adjustment ot tlie grade if
needed. This discussion process usually
takes place over a sausage and peppcroni
pizza at about two in the morning. Take
that for what you will. (No, we don't actu-
ally levitate over die pi/.za, I meant... oh,
nevermind.)

WHAT THE GRADES MEAN

A certified Amiga Game
ZoneWtt and a must buy.
All gamers should add
this to their collection
immediately. Violators
will be arrested by The
Zone police.

An above average game.
It is well-designed, hut
lias a few minor prob-
lems or docs not have
mass appeal. Fans of the
genre, however, will be
very pleased.

Pretty darn average.
Nothing to set it apart
from others like it.
Players interested in
this type of game may
want to take a peek,
though.

Below average. An acci-
dent just waiting to
happen. Loaded with
problems, and only for
those dedicated gamers
with a masochistic
streak.

Forget it. Give this
kind a swift three-
fingered salute. Buy it
only if you're curious,
wealthy, and have
nothing better to do
with your life.

AMIGA

GAME ZONE

EURO CHARTS

Listed below are the games reviewed in this issue of Amiga Game Zone
that have been rated by at least three of the top five Euromags. Their
ratings are based on a 100% scale, but frankly we can't differentiate
between an 84% and an 86%. Keep in mind that the averages can be
misleading since it only takes one extreme rating to distort the overall
score. We feel that these charts - in addition to our own reviews - will
provide you with an accurate picture of how the industry regards a game.

<• £ >

** ^ «° £ *

•A -A -A V .

S"
^

^P ^P ^p Cr <F

Alfred Chicken CD 32

Mindscape

77.6

Arabian Nights CD 32

Krisalis

88.7

Body Blows Galactic

Team 17

79.0

Bubba 'N' Stix

Core Design

87.4

Burning Rubber

Ocean

66.8

Cannon Fodder

Virgin

93.8

Castles 2 CD 32

Interplay

56.2

Chaos Engine AGA

Renegade

90.0

Combat Air Patrol

Psygnosis

86.6

Dangerous Streets CD 32

Flair

31.5

Dinosaur Detective Agency

Alternative

50.5

Disposable Hero

Gremlin

77.8

F-117A Stealth Fighter

Microprose

86.8

Gametek

Fury of the Furries

Jet Strike

Mindscape

97
81

96
90

88.2
77.8

Alternative

John Barnes Soccer CD 32 Krisalis
Jurassic Park AGA Ocean

Labyrinth of Time CD 32 Electronic Arts

69.6

50.0

81.0

70.6

Liberation

Mindscape

Liberation CD 32

Mindscape

91.2

Microcosm CD 32

Psygnosis

77.4

Morph CD 32

Millenium

78.3

Mortal Kombat

Virgin

Nigel ManseU CD 32
Overkill AGA

Gremlin

91.

36.6

73.5

MindscaDe

Pirate's Gold CD 32

21st Century

77.8

Prey CD 32

Almathera

41.3

Seek and Destroy

Mindscape

83
82

80.8

Seek and Destroy CD 32

Mindscape

81.8

Sensible Soccer CD 32

Renegade

91.0

Settlers

Kompart

90.2

Simon the Sorcerer

Adventurcsoft

84.0

Suburban Commando

Alternative

51.2

Turrican 3

Renegade

76.8

When Two Worlds War

Impressions

72.3

Winter Olympics

US Gold

67.4

Zool 2

Gremlin

84.8

SYNDICATE

mam revui

YOU FOUGHT tooth and nail, sacrificing countless cyborg
agents to gain control of the American territories. But
now the natives want them back! The citizens of North
and South America, tired of punitive tax rates and
streets that aren't safe to walk, are taking up arms
against the syndicate and looking to gain autonomy. If
you let this happen, not only will it jeopardize your
position as syndicate executive, but it will also bring
your stay on planet Earth to a premature close. Be
warned, rival syndicates look upon the American revolt
as the ideal opportunity to gain an upper hand in the
ongoing struggle for supremacy. In 21 new missions you
must protect syndicate interests in the American territo-
ries, regain control from the unruly masses, and at the
same time neutralize enemy syndicate activity. ■

ATTENTION SYNDICATE OWNERS

THEY'RE GU11G FOR MAI - CAN YOU SAVE HER FROM A FIERY DEATH?

EXCLUSIVE PLAYABLE MISSION ON THIS MONTH'S DISK

Bullfrog has designed an
exclusive special mission
from its new data disk for
Amiga Game Zone readers.

The cover of new AGZ
staffer Meri Cunningham
has been blown. You must
protect her from enemy
agents so she can safely
deliver important documents
to our spacious mid-town
office. Just take a peek at the
inside back cover of this very
issue, and you'll have a pretty
good idea of why we'll be
very disappointed if she ends
up as a charred pile of ashes.

Syndicate can be played on
any Amiga with a mouse, but
the speed of the game is
determined by your system.
Note: A4000 owners should
disable CPU caches before
loading the game.

You control your 4 agents by
clicking on their windows. To
control all 4 agents at once,
select the team bar. Click on
any point in the city to send
the agent(s) to that location.

/The three bars below each
player are adrenalin, percep-
tion, and intelligence indica-
tors. See the player's guide in
AGZ #1 for info on these. By
pressing both mouse buttons
at once, these levels will go to
Panic Mode (use this often!)

After selecting a weapon icon
with a left-click, you can fire
with a right-click. Right-
click on a weapon icon to
drop it and left-click on dead
agents' guns to pick them up.

Click on a car to board it and
click on any section of the
road to drive to that location.

Be sure to watch the scanner
to monitor Meri's location.

ELECTRONIC ARTS WILL NQI
BE PUBLISHING THE DATA DISK.

THE AMIGA VERSION WILL NOT BE
AVAILABLE IN COMPUTER STORES.

THE DATA DISK IS AVAILABLE ONLY

THROUGH THIS EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL

OFFER DIRECT FROM BULLFROG:

The Syndicate: American Revolt
data disk replaces the fourth disk of
the original game and contains 21
all-new missions. To order, send
S19.95 (postage paid) to:

BULLFROG DATA DISK

C/O AMIGA GAME ZONE

103 WEST CALIFORNIA

URBANA, IL 61801

OR CALL 1-800-32 AMIGA

NOTE: The original Syndicate disks
are required to play the new missions.

ANY SYNDICATE EXECUTIVES WHO HAVE
LET SUCCESS IN THE ORIGINAL MISSIONS
GO TO THEIR HEADS ARE IN FOR A RUDE
AWAKENING. SYNDICATE: THE AMERICAN
REVOLT IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
PROPOSITION. YOUR CYBORGS WILL SOON
BE FACING ENEMY AGENTS WHOSE REAC-
TIONS ARE AT LEAST TWICE AS FAST AS
ANYTHING ENCOUNTERED BEFORE. THEY
ARM, AIM, AND FIRE WITHOUT HESITATION
AND WITHOUT MERCY. IF YOU CANNOT
WITHSTAND THE INITIAL ASSAULT, FAILURE
COMES QUICKLY. CRUSHING THE AMERICAN
REVOLT WILL TAKE ALL OF YOUR SYNDICATE
EXPERIENCE AND CONSIDERABLE SKILL. THE
LINE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND FAILURE IS
THIN - THE RESULT OF FAILURE IS TERMI-
NAL. STILL THINK YOU'VE GOT WHAT IT
TAKES FOR SYNDICATE: AMERICAN REVOLT?

Cannon Fodder 93.8

Lemmings 2 92.4

Soccer Kid 92.0

|,_ 4. Flashback 91.4

5. Syndicate 91.4

6. Liberation CD 32 91.2

7. Desert Strike 91.0

8. Hired Guns 91.0

9. Sensible Soccer CD 32 91.0

10. Soccer Kid AGA 91.0

11. Body Blows 90.6

12. Settlers 90.2

13. Chaos Engine AGA 90.0

14. Civilization AGA 90.0

15. Pinball Fantasies CD 32 89.0

16. Dune 2 88.8

17. Arabian Nights CD 32 88.7

18. Gunship 2000 88.6

19. Goal! 88.4

20. Frontier 88.2

21. Micro Machines 87.8

22. Skidmarks 87.6

23. Chaos Engine 87.4

24. Alien Breed 2 87.0

25. Superfrog 86.8

26. F-117A Stealth Fighter 86.8

27. Zool CD 32 86.7

28. Combat Air Patrol 86.6

29. Mortal Kombat 86.6

30. Lionheart 86.4

31. 1869 AGA 86.0

32. Lost Vikings 85.8

33. Sleepwalker AGA 85.7

34. Fl 85.6

35. Ishar2AGA 85.5

36. Pinball Fantasies AGA 85.5

37. Qwak 85.4

38. Stardust 85.4

39. Worlds of Legend 85.4

40. Alien Breed 2 AGA 85.2

41. History Line 1914-1918 85.2

42. Sleepwalker 85.0

43. Zool 2 84.8

44. Legends of Valour 84.6

45. Overkill AGA 84.6

46. Christmas Lemmings 84.5

H3H9!

ft'

i> ^

SYNDICATE

THE BEST
OF 1993

i NC that game programmers can
still push the li ctmporer that is

basically S years old. 1'W.t was .mother
banner vcar fur the Amiga in terms ot new
and innovative games, and we'd like to
showcase the cream of (lie crop. We've
listed fir.iiiiiiilly every Amiga game
released last tear on these two pages, am)
■i i minded the composite
percentage rating .J from the

five leading Kuropean cnaga/.incs.

Many worthy contenders were vying for
the top spilt, hut Cannon Fodder emerged
the victor with in impressive W.8 percent
combined rating. Close behind were
iccei Kid, flashback, and
Syndicate. One title deserving special
mention is Frontier, which would have
grabbed the #1 position had it not received
a 65% rating from one reviewer.

Equally (if not more) interesting are the
Big Lotcn of 1993. Doofrut, Dangerous
Streets, Inter national Rughy Challenge,
and Deitfl H turn in shreds by

reviewers. We hope you bypassed the
lame excuses tor entertainment and made
some good software buys hist vein.

47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
•76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.

90.
91.
92.

LEMMINGS 2

Sleepwalker CD 32 84.3

Robocod AGA 84.3

Arabian Nights 84.2

Uridium 2 84.2

Graham Gooch - Second Innings . . . 84.0

Nippon Safes Inc 84.0

Premier Manager 2 84.0

Simon the Sorcerer 84.0

Trolls CD 32 84.0

Chuck Rock 2 83.8

Space Hulk 83.8

MorphAGA 83.7

Walker 83.6

Brutal Sports Football 83.5

Diggers CD 32 83.5

Fantastic Dizzy 83.5

Trolls AGA 83.3

Ishar2 83.2

War in the Gulf 83.2

Battle Isle '93 82.8

Overkill / Lunar-C CD 32 82.7

IsharAGA 82.4

Zool AGA 82.3

Alien 3 82.3

Bob's Bad Day 81.8

D/Generation CD 32 81.8

One Step Beyond 81.4

Campaign - Scenario Disk 81.3

Ryder Cup AGA 81.3

Jurassic Park AGA 81.0

Championship Manager '93 80.8

Seek and Destroy 80.8

European Champions 80.5

Yo! Joe! 80.4

Demo II Collection CD 32 80.0

Kxusty's Fun House 80.0

B17 Flying Fortress 79.8

Diggers AGA 79.7

Mean Arenas 79.7

Switchquiz 79.5

Patrician 79.2

Body Blows Galactic AGA 79.0

Blade of Destiny 78.8

Abandoned Places 2 78.6

Blob! 78.6

Morph CD 32 78.3

93. Beavers 78.3

94. Genesia 78.3

95. Reach for the Skies 78.3

96. Scrabble 78.3

97. Caesar Deluxe 78.0

98. Cool Spot 78.0

99. Globdule 78.0

100. Disposable Hero 77.8

101. Fury of the Furries 77.8

102. Pirate's Gold CD 32 77.8

103. Wiz'N'Liz 77.8

104. Alfred Chicken CD 32 77.6

105. Woody's World 77.5

106. Global Gladiators 77.4

107. Turrican 3 76.8

108. Space Crusade - Voyage Beyond .... 76.4

109. Campaign 2 76.2

110. Global Domination 76.0

111. Deep Core CD 32 75.0

112. Mean Arenas CD 32 75.0

113. T2 - The Arcade Game 75.0

114. Whale's Voyage AGA 75.0

115. Goblins 3 74.8

116. Sink or Swim 74.4

117. Sim Life AGA 74.2

118. Star Trek - 25th Anniversary 74.2

119. Overdrive 73.8

120. Nigel Mansell CD 32 73.5

121. Humans -Jurassic Levels 73.0

122. Morph 73.0

123. Simon the Sorcerer AGA 73.0

124. Alfred Chicken 72.4

125. When Two Worlds War 72.3

126. Deep Core 72.0

127. Transarctica 72.0

128. Magic Boy 71.8

129. Donk! 71.6

130. Graham Gooch Cricket 71.0

131. Bard's Tale Construction Kit 70.8

132. Oscar AGA 70.7

133. Labyrinth of Time CD 32 70.6

134. Robocod CD 32 70.3

135. Dogfight 70.0

136. Oscar 70.0

137. Jetstrike 69.6

138. Cyberpunks 69.0

W^*> 1: J

i !

* m

HIRED

GUNS

PICK YOUR FIVE FAVORITE
AMIGA GAMES OF 1993 &
WIN YOUR CHOICE OF ANY
AMIGA GAME EVER MADE!

mi GAMES pictured across the top and
bottom of these page* arc the Amiga Game
Zone nomination-- for Game of tin
But we're leaving tin.' final decision up to
u. We need your votes to determine
merka'a favorite Amiga game tor 1 W3.

dimply fill out the insert card on this pag e

list your t uiga game*

jublished in 1993. We'll tally the results

ld determine llic win net. 'Soil may choose
mm any of the 183 games listed on these

m pages. Entries listing games from
ither years will he disqualified (no
I cmmings.letris, Monkey Island, etc.)

Lhi- in-.t ]..m u ih.ii as "'" b$. chaining
five entries at random to receive the
Amig a game of their c h o ice I You can list
any Amiga game ever published, from the
first Amiga game (Mimhvalker) to any
current release! So whether vou've been
looking for Little Computer People for
years or you'd jusl like to have Microcosm
foryonr CD", now is your chance to enter
and vrin! Contest ends and the winners
will he drawn on July I, IW4, so send in

our entry right away!

f*m

-■.i a ■-

5*imi!far

-rr—

FRONTIER

139. Nigel Mansell AGA 69.0

140. NowThat's...Games CD 32 69.0

141. Transarctica AGA 68.8

142. 1869 68.2

143. Gear Works 68.2

144. A320 Airbus - American Data 68.0

145. Whale's Voyage CD 32 68.0

146. Theatre of Death 67.8

147. Burning Rubber 66.8

148. Cosmic Spacehead 66.8

149. Wonderdog 66.6

150. Tornado 66.4

151. Fatman AGA 66.0

152. Blastar 65.2

153. Ancient Art of War in the Skies .... 64.5

154. Oscar CD 32 63.0

155. Kingmaker 62.3

156. Whale's Voyage 62.2

157. Prime Mover 61.8

158. Beastlord 61.3

159. Entity 61.3

160. Fatman 61.3

161. D-Day 60.2

162. Nicky 2 60.2

163. Creatures 59.0

164. Airforce Commander 58.7

165. Fire Force CD 32 56.0

166. Rules of Engagement 2 56.0

167. International Open Golf AGA 55.3

168. Crystal Kingdom Dizzy 54.6

169. Firehawk 54.0

170. Piracy on the High Seas 53.3

171. Cohort 2 52.8

172. Alio 'Alio 52.3

173. Suburban Commando 51.2

174. Cardiaxx 50.7

175. Dinosaur Detective Agency 50.5

176. John Barnes Soccer CD 32 50.0

177. Super Cauldron 49.0

178. Super Sports Challenge 39.4

179. Napoleonics 36.7

180. Dennis 35.3

181. International Rugby Challenge 31.8

182. Dangerous Streets CD 32 31.5

183. Doofus 29.0

FRONTIER

Some years back, a game called Elite hit
the market. When it first came out, it
was thought to have everything ever
wanted in a game. You had complete free-
dom to roam the galaxies, to trade goods,
and to eliminate scum from the universe.
Enjoyable at first, but the more you played
Elite, the clearer it became that there should
be something more to the game. You could
never land on a planet. Stations all looked
the same. It was even annoying at times, as
you crashed into the space station and died.
Despite these problems, we still loved Elite.

Now the much awaited sequel is out.
Frontier: Elite II has arrived, sporting
numerous improvements. As before, you
have a whole universe to explore, but not the
same one as in the original Elite. In the
original there were seven galaxies, and you
needed a hyperspace drive to get from one to
another. The stars and planets, though
different, seemed the same. In Frontier, you
are now in one large galaxy, and it is divided
into Federation, Empire, and Independent
space.

The first improvement you notice in
Frontier is that you can now land on planets
as well as dock at space stations. If your ship
can survive the gravity, you can land on any
planet in the galaxy. If you want to come
screaming down to a planet's surface (and
you will), you'll find atmospheric shielding
to be a necessity.

You start out with a Eagle Long Range
Fighter MKIII with goodies like auto-pilot,
radar scanner, atmospheric shielding, and
some adequate weaponry. There are many
differences between the ships in Elite and
Frontier. In Elite, you had your trusty Cobra
MKIII and that was it. In Frontier, you can
buy any type of ship you want (or can afford)
ranging from interplanetary shuttles to
Panther clipper ships. There are also all new
weapons and interstellar drives. Now there
are 8 classes of engines, and depending on

the size of your ship, you can get bigger
drives which can make longer jumps in
shorter time, but at increased fuel cost.
There are also military drives, which are
improved drives that are more efficient and
smaller, but they use military fuel that is
expensive and leaves radioactive by-prod-
ucts. The extra weapons are way cool. You
can get varying sizes of pulse and beam
lasers, as well as plasma accelerators (Oooh,
baby!) which are very powerful. There are
also four classes of missiles from which to
choose. Besides all of the original equip-
ment, there is a bunch of new equipment to
fill up that empty space in your ship: naval
ECM systems, hyperspace cloud analyzers,
automatic hull repair systems, mines,
passenger cabins, auto-refuellers, radar
mappers, and more.

The entire method of flight has been
redone. Now, spaceflight is true to life. If
you accelerate in one direction, you wiLl keep
going in that direction until you apply
reverse thrust to stop. This will take some
getting used to, but it is better than the old
"stop on a dime" method used in Elite.
Frontier allows you to turn your ship while
Elite used only rotation. If you really like to
rotate, there is an option for it too. You can
also use your autopilot (highly recom-
mended) by going though successive levels
of system charts and clicking on the planet
you want to reach.

As in the first Elite, you have your
choice of career paths. You can ferry passen-
gers and packages, you can be a trader (in
legal or illegal goods), you can work for the
military (the Federation, the Empire, or the
Independents), or you can be a bounty
hunter (but this time with real missions
instead of just shooting anyone who flys by).
The secret to making the game as interest-
ing as possible is to do a little of everything.

By now you are saying, "Enough
already, so how does it play?" That depends

on the speed of your computer. On a unac-
celerated Amiga with Workbench 1.3, you
will cry and demand your money back.
However, with 2.0 or 3.0, the game plays
much faster. On a 68040 you will think this
is one of the greatest space flight sims
around. If you don't have the best money can
buy, trying turning off the sound effects - it
really does help. Detail abounds in the game
from spinning radar dishes to individually
numbered ships. Some have commented
that the music could be better. True, it is no
32 voice soundtrack, but I still liked it.

However, there are some troubles in
paradise. The person who thought up the
copy protection scheme should be killed on
sight. Never before have I come across a
more annoying scheme in my life. Every
once in a while it will ask you to type in the
first letter of a word from a page in the
manual. If it asked once or twice I wouldn't
mind, but continually throughout the game}
Once I know a game I usually put the
manual away, or at least have it buried under
a pile of notes, but to have to drag it out
every time... arrgh! There are also some glar-
ing bugs left in the code. The most annoy-
ing I found was on my Boa. The bottom
turret would not shoot at the enemy, but at
my own ship instead! How could this have
gone unnoticed?

Overall I truly enjoyed this game, bugs
and all. I would not hesitate to recommend
it to anyone (well, except someone with a
68000 and WB1.3). Mr. Braben should be
praised, honored, and generally well-liked
for getting so much fun and excitement into
a 646K executable. I salute you! Now, please
reconsider that copy protection. ■ BB

FRONTIER

- ELITE 2

GAMETE* ■ £34.99 ($SO)

VIDEO

1.3/2.O/3.0

NTSC

YES |

HARD DRIVE |

PROTECTION

YES

MANUAL

If you have an
accelerated
Amiga, you'll
love this huge
open-ended
space epic!

^-{-■■^■i-H

THE SETTLERS

This is the Game of the Year for 1994.
Does that sound a bit pretentious?
Maybe so, but The Settlers has just
the right mix of gaming ingredients, and the
result is a flawless product. If anything bad
can be said about this game, it is that you
can't just load it in and start playing without
some background information. If you lack a
basic understanding of the complex struc-
tures involved in creating and supporting a
viable settlers economy, the game is rele-
gated to the level of a pretty "ant farm". But
even as simple wallpaper, it excels.

Imagine a Lilliputian computer king-
dom complete with fully animated inhabi-
tants that go about their business while you
watch and listen: a construction worker
builds a new home, hammering on the
wooden frame; a geologist hunts for
precious mineral deposits, flipping head over
heels and letting out a whoop of joy when
his labor pays off; and a farmer does his
Chubby Checker impersonation while he
reaps his crop. There are twenty different
occupations for settlers to assume, and every
single one of them is fascinating. Even
something as mundane as the moving of
material from point A to point B is done
with flair, as a tiny carrier hefts the load on
his shoulder and strides down the roadway.
Watching the settlers develop a community
on their own is intriguing, and one could
certainly spend hours doing just that, but
eventually you'll want to actually play the
game yourself.

The interface is completely mouse
driven and the actual control is fairly intu-
itive, with a single exception. Some actions
require a "special click", which is to hold
down the right mouse button while clicking
on the left. Without knowing when this is
appropriate, controlling the game can be a
bit confusing. However, once it is under-
stood what actions are initiated with a
"special click", the interface is quite trans-
parent and very simple to navigate. The
controls which are most commonly used

together are located near one another, so
complex actions are easy to accomplish. To
simplify things even further the game
includes six training scenarios. Each training
mission focuses on a different aspect of the
settlers' economy (from how to acquire new
land to constructing new buildings and
accumulating food, minerals, tools, and
weapons), and every level teaches you some-
thing new about gameplay. There is even an
explanation of how to tell your knights to
attack the enemy. Even though these are
very simple models (and very easy to
complete), the lessons they teach are invalu-
able. All six training scenarios are explained
fully in the extensive manual, which offers
even more insight into the gameplay than
can be gleaned from the actual teaching
missions alone.

However, while the manual is very
complete, the information is not presented
in a clear fashion. Part of this problem could
be attributed to the fact that the manuscript
was originally written in German and trans-
lated to English. There are many building
names on the included reference card that
are different from the building names in the
manual. Given the complexity of the game,
this inconsistency can present a stumbling
block to new players. Luckily, the game itself
is so engaging that it provides ample encour-
agement to stumble through the documen-
tation until enlightenment occurs.

While The Settlers is a natural for
modem play, unfortunately this option is not
included. Luckily, there is a spilt-screen
two-player option. If a human opponent is
not available, there seems to be an unlimited
supply of random games with up to three
computer players and no less than thirty
one-player missions to complete. Each of
the strategic missions offers a variety of
computer opponents, skill levels, and maps.
In addition to multiple save game positions,
upon completion of each level the player is
awarded a password which allows access to
the next level. The difficulty of each scenario
is preset and rises as successive missions are
completed. The rate at which the game
becomes more challenging is as close to
perfect as possible. This allows the player to

learn how the
economic structures in
the game interact. The
Settlers is an exciting strat-
egy game that provides not only an enchant-
ing aural and visual feast, but also a very
structured economic simulation. The core of
the settlers' economy is based on two
"chains", food and material. Each has
diverse inputs and end products. This variety
is both a blessing and a curse. Since there are
so many options, a new player may feel over-
whelmed. But by choosing the systems
which best suit his personality, each player is
allowed to develop a different style of play.

As it stands now, The Settlers is a game
which will give many hours of enjoyment to
just about any Amiga gamer. This is an
outstanding game even though the docu-
mentation could have been a bit better writ-
ten. It combines some of the best elements
of many past award winning games: the
animated antics of the tiny settlers them-
selves (Lemmings), the strategic goal of
dealing with a variety of computer oppo-
nents (Populous), and an involved socio-
economic system (SimCity). This game is
so good, it almost made me miss my review
deadline! ■ EP

FHE SETTLER!

KOMPART ■ £34.99 ($50)

VIDEO J |

1.3/2.0/3.0

PAL

YES

HARD DRIVE 1 !

PROTECTION

YES

MANUAL

little computer /J^F^wKx

people has jjW , T™j

never been this % \H_sb_Jk !
muchfun! ^S^*'

BLOWS

GALACTIC

Comparing Body Blows Galactic to
Mortal Kombat is like being a judge
at amateur boxing night. Both
contenders are lacking, but you still have to
come up with a conclusion as to which one
is better. Both Mortal Kombat and Body
Blows Galactic are mediocre at best, but one
of them does comes out the winner when
compared side by side.

BODY BLOWS GALACTIC

Team 17's original Body Blows was a
quick, fast-buck attempt to capitalize on the
Streetfighter II mania that has been sweep-
ing the planet for the last couple of years.
Shortly after release, it got lost in a sea of
substandard fighting games. Although it
was one of the few SFII clones for the
Amiga, it still was nothing special compared
to one-on-one martial arts contests on other
platforms. The crew at Team 17 has now
updated Body Blows with more characters,
better graphics, tweaked gameplay, and even
an AGA version. But, is it any good?

After Dan and Junior took out Max in
the original Body Blows, they made the
logical decision (hey, why not?) to take on
the entire universe to see who's the best
intergalactic martial artist. They travel to 6
planets, each populated with 2 street fighters
of varying strength and ability.

While an assortment of characters does
lend variety to the game, Body Blows
Galactic still falls short in many areas.
Gameplay is the biggest weakness. Street
Fighter II (the arcade version, at least) had a
near perfect balance of strength, speed, and
ability among the cast of characters. But it
seems that the abilities of the characters in
Body Blows Galactic vary. Sometimes, even
if you're a better player, it's hard to win
against someone who commands a faster

MORTAL

or stronger character.

Play control is another severe problem
with BBG. First, the game only supports a
single button joystick. We all know that
fighting games require mass buttonage, but
Team 17 decided to cram everything into
one button. This greatly limits the number
of moves each character has. Also, when in a
tight situation, it's difficult to rattle off quick
moves and combos because the play control
is so sluggish. Even with simplistic one
button maneuvers, the game does not seem
to be in sync with the joystick's movements.

4 ^Jp«ffi

. i

The graphics in Body Blows Galactic
are very good. In particular, detail on the
backdrops is fantastic. The characters them-
selves have decent animation and also are
well drawn. Yet, the enhanced version of
Body Blows Galactic seems like another one
of those "me too" AGA games. It has minor
adjustments for the speed of AGA machines
and a few eye-candy and sound enhance-
ments, but it's nothing new. It's disappoint-
ing to find the AGA version is just the ECS
version with some tacked-on modifications.

In the sound department, Body Blows
Galactic is average. The background music
can get annoying, but it's really not too loud
or too noticeable during gameplay. BBG
also contains the standard host of grunts and

groans found in this type of game. The
victory shouts of the characters are often
unintelligible, but that seems to be a trade-
mark of martial arts games.

Body Blows Galactic is not a bad game,
it's just not very good either. The gameplay
leaves a lot to be desired, and the AGA
version is a disappointment. There are suffi-
cient options for tournament modes and
difficulty settings, but overall it's merely a
slightly above par production. I do have faith
in Team 17... hopefully in Body Blows III
they'll finally get it right.

MORTAL KOMBAT

When Mortal Kombat hit the arcades,
it was among the first of the wildly popular
Street Fighter II clones. What it lacked in
gameplay was made up for in the graphics
department. All the characters were digi-
tized from actual video footage using real
actors, and there was a ton of blood and gore
(something most teenage males at the
arcades seem to relish). Now, after the
hoopla over the arcade MK has died down a
bit, the home versions have been making the
rounds. The Amiga conversion,
programmed by Probe, is a gigantic letdown.
It is Mortal Kombat in name only.

The basic plot of Mortal Kombat
(plot? who needs plot?) is that the spirit-like
Tsang Sung has been holding a gigantic
martial arts tournament for the last 5000
years or so. Seven contestants are currently
entered in the tournament, and whoever
rises up the ranks to the top position must
fight the half-human/half-dragon, Goro,
and finally Tsang Sung himself. But beware,
the stealthy Reptile wanders into and out of
the tournament, popping up when he's least
expected. This should all make for one
tough, frantic, action-packed game, right?

WRONG. While it's not exactly fair to
compare an 8 MHz ASOO to the hardware
found in the coin-op, even in its own right,
Mortal Kombat is a disappointing game. It's
mostly due to the control factor. While the
problem created by compressing the 5
buttons of the arcade into just 2 buttons on
the Amiga is understandable, it is tough to
pull off many maneuvers with these simpli-
fied controls. It's almost as if the computer is
struggling to keep up with the player's
joystick movement, executing the desired
moves only after considerable delay. This
not only ruins the game's flow, it also makes
performing standard MK combinations
nearly impossible. This is a major gripe since
using combos on enemies is what keeps one-
on-one fighting games fun. It's the discovery
of new and exciting ways to cripple the
opponent with lightning speed that piques
interest in these contests.

The graphics are fair at best. The visu-
als may look good in still pictures - but
when seen in action, the jerkiness and poor
animation is immediately apparent.
Backgrounds lack parallax scrolling, are
devoid of any animation, and fail to provide

much detail or color. While there are full-
motion video clips included from the arcade
version, they look particularly bad when
viewed in such a limited color palette. Most
arcade fans will quickly notice such short-
cuts as using the same frames of animation
for Scorpion and Sub-Zero with a mere

BODY BLOWS GALACTIC

TEAM 17 ■ £26.99 ($40)

VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0

HARD DRIVE PROTECTION

Great graphics
but limited
controls make
it only slightly
above average.

color change from yellow to cyan.

Mortal Kombat's sound has to be its
only strong point. The music is fine, as it
does contain a lot of samples from the
arcade. However, it takes quite a while just
to load up the simple sound-test to hear the
various tunes and samples.

Other Mortal Kombat failings include
the lack of hard drive installability and the
existence of many system-hostile features. It
barely ran on my A4000/030. Even using
the varied settings on Degrader, I still
encountered constant software failures.
Though it will run on a 1MB ASOO, the wait
is worse than ever because it won't load the
extra data into RAM for quicker access.
This really hurts a game in my book.

Arcade MK fans will be disappointed.
While it's not fair to directly compare the
home version to the arcade game, even
people just looking for a good fighting game
on the Amiga should look elsewhere. Unless
you're completely desperate, avoid this game\

So, who comes up the winner? Isn't it
obvious? While Body Blows Galactic AGA
has marginal playability, it is still head and
shoulders above the dismal Mortal Kombat.
Even the ECS BBG wins in comparison.
There is a CD- 52 version of MK on the way,
and it looks great - hopefully the designers
at Probe can redeem themselves. ■ RB

ON THE OTHER HAND..

MORTAL KOMBAT DEATH MOVES

Please note that the grades given to these games
are solely from the perspective of the reviewer
and not those oftheAGZ staff. While we gener-
ally assign grades based on the review and our
own evaluation, we chose to print both points of
view this time since there was such a discrep-
ancy. Having never played Mortal Kombat at
the arcade, we at AGZ. prefer MK to BBG by a
wide margin. The digitized actors, responsive
play, and special moves made us keep coming
back to MK while BBG sat collecting dust. If
you've never tried it, MK is worth a look. - Ed

BODY BLOWS GALACTIC AGA

TEAM 17

■

£29.99 ($45)

VIDEO | 1.3/2.0/3.0

PAL 3.0 ONLY

| HARD DRIVE 1 1 PROTECTION

NO | DISK-BASED |

A few minor ,*£&
enhancements, *A
but basically {! |
the same as ^jj^
the ECS game. ^^S

JOHNNY CAGE

SUB-ZERO

POWER PUNCH

HEADPIECE

TOWARD

I TOWARD

TOWARD

; DOWN

TOWARD

j TOWARD

FIRE

! FIRE

KANO

SCORPION

HEART ATTACK

HELLFIRE

AWAY

: DOWN

AWAY

! DOWN

FIRE

j FIRE

LIU KANG

RAYDEN

SPIN KICK

ELECTRICITY

DOWN

! TOWARD

AWAY

! AWAY

TOWARD

i AWAY

DOWN

i FIRE

SONYA BLADE

TO FIGHT

KISS OF DEATH

REPTILE:

TOWARD

; In the pit level,

TOWARD

I perform a double

AWAY

1 flawless victory

AWAY

! and finish with a

FIRE

• fatality move!

MORTAL KOMBAT

VIRGIN ■

£29.99 ($45)

VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0 1

NTSC

YES

HARD DRIVE

PROTECTION

DISK-BASED |

This version
ofMK pales ir
comparison to
its arcade
counterpart.

HF m

RISE OF THE

i
i

THE ROBOTS are coming. Mirage's highly-antici-
pated combat game Rise of the Robots is set to be
released this spring with separate versions for
CD , AGA, and standard Amigas. The entire
game was created using high-end 3D modeling
software that produces incredible ray-traced
graphic images, resulting in some of the most
realistic animation ever seen on the Amiga.

Each robot character is modeled element by
element from the original blueprint designs and
shaped to exact dimensions. Some of the more
spectacular effects in the game include the
morphing of a liquid metal robot and the shatter-
ing sequences when a robot is defeated.

The entire project is being headed by ex-
Bitmap Brother Sean Griffiths, so we expect the
playability to be as refined as the graphics! ■

AMBERMOON

Only $34.95

Direct form Germany, Ambermoon is being called Game
of the Year by several European publications. It's stunning
graphics, incredible music score and gripping story line
have made Ambermoon the hottest fantasy role-playing
game in Europe.

"...if you thought Ultima 6 looked hot, well, you aint seen
Ambermoon yet." Amiga World, March 1994

Having trouble finding other great Thalion titles at
your local dealer? Buy from us direct!

Ambermoon $34.95

Amberstar $24.95

No Second Prize $19.95

A320 Airbus $19.95

Lionheart $24.95

Just call 716-248-6656 to order today.
Visa and Mastercard accepted.

Thalion Publishing, 3800 Monroe Ave. Pittsford, NY 14534

CANNON FODDER

Lately, a new style of game has come
of age. It's sort of a cross between a
god-game and a military strategy
affair. Recent releases sharing these charac-
teristics include Syndicate, Theatre of
Death, and now, Cannon Fodder. Cannon
Fodder is Sensible Software's attempt at this
interesting new genre. Cannon Fodder is a
solid product, but it doesn't quite dethrone
Bullfrog's mighty Syndicate.

In Cannon Fodder, the main characters
are a rag-tag bunch of individuals, who
think they are in for a few weekends of mili-
tary training and free college tuition, but
instead end up engaged in deadly combat.
Sneaking through terrain as diverse as
steamy jungle and frozen tundra, they
constantly face off against the nameless
enemy. The guiding principle is "shoot first
and ask questions later".

The mouse is used to control all of the
movement and offensive functions of the
soldiers. Clicking on a specific point on the
screen will command the tiny infantry to
march to that area. The other mouse button
fires one of the weapons in the arsenal
consisting of machine guns, grenades, and
rockets. To make the journey a bit easier, the
troops can be packed into vehicles such as
armored cars, hovercraft, tanks, or choppers.
When a mission requires several small
attack groups, your forces can be split up and
the weapons divided accordingly. Smaller
parties present a more difficult target for the
all too accurately aimed enemy rocket or
gunfire.

While the military is constantly taking
on new recruits, the number of available
soldiers is still limited. Each mission is
divided into several levels which must be
completed before the next round can be
entered and more recruits can sign up. If all
of the available troops are eliminated before
the next round starts, the game is over. At
the beginning of the game, this really isn't a
problem. As the stages get tougher, there are
noticeably more casualties, and the supply of

troops gets dangerously low. It is for this
reason the later levels cannot be treated as an
all-out blastfest. Strategies must be carefully
planned out, weapons must be conserved,
and troops must sneak around rather than
just running with guns blazing into open
areas. The few soldiers that are left when the
smoke clears get promoted depending on
how many of the enemy they have killed.
Only the best of the best are posthumously
placed in the hall of fame.

Cannon Fodder's graphics are very
good. Each of the backgrounds has been
drawn with amazing care and features great
detail and appropriate use of color. The
characters, albeit tiny, are also well drawn
and skillfully animated. The occasional
graphic glitch does pop up, but it's really not
a problem. Not only are the visuals good, but
so is the audio. Sound effects such as rush-
ing wind, chirping birds, and flowing rivers
abound. Of course, there is the standard
array of explosions, gunshots, and death
cries as well, with the full benefit of stereo.

From a gameplay standpoint, Cannon
Fodder is a great challenge - but not in the
way you might think. The challenge is in
staying interested. It starts out very easy, but
the difficulty ramps up quickly. Completing
the game takes quite a while, even for the
experienced gamer. However, the length of
the game doesn't make up for the fact that
there isn't much to it. I quickly grew tired of
the repetitious levels and the frustrating
difficulty of some scenarios. There just isn't
enough variety from level to level. It's the

type of game that needs to be taken in small
doses. Getting totally mangled during hours
of combat can really frazzle the nerves. Not
only that, but the average gamer probably
won't feel like going through all of the
tedious disk swaps. For some reason Virgin
felt it necessary to release a game on three
disks, yet did not make it hard drive instal-
lable {Not too "Sensible", eh? - Ed)

All things taken into consideration,
Cannon Fodder is pretty good. It's a very
long game with a difficulty level that should
keep any gamer busy for awhile. It does lack
variety, but on the whole, Cannon Fodder is
definitely an above average production.
Comparatively, it falls a little short of some
of the better games in this genre such as
Syndicate - but still, you won't regret buying
it. ■ RB

CANNON FODDER

VIRGIN ■ £29.99 ($45)

VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0

NTSC

YES

HARD DRIVE

PROTECTION

DISK-BASED

Lots of good
stuff- just too
much of the
same stuff.

JURASSIC

After fifteen or so years of game play-
ing experience, one rule I've learned
is to never to trust a movie license.
Most of the time, software houses will take
a popular (and sometimes not so popular)
movie title and slap a sub-par game behind
the name in hopes of selling a less than stel-
lar product on the name alone. In the first
place, it's very hard to make a decent game
out of a film. Since the gameplay has to
adhere to the plot of the film, room for
creative design becomes fairly cramped. As a
result, most movie-to-game conversions end
up as uninspired platformers or those god-
awful collections of sub-games that relate to
certain parts of the movie. Jurassic Park
from Ocean is no exception to this rule.
While it has the same name as the biggest
film hit in history, the actual game is tired
and average at best.

In Jurassic Park the player assumes the
role of the famous archeologist, Dr. Alan
Grant, who has been invited on a tour of the
newest amusement park/biotechnological
breakthrough called Jurassic Park. Jurassic
Park, as if you didn't know, features the flora
and fauna of the dinosaur age reconstructed
from preserved prehistoric DNA. Of course,
the novel plan is complicated by drawing on
the "fly in the ointment" device. In an
attempt to escape the island with stolen
dinosaur eggs, the head computer program-
mer of the facility has turned off the security
systems which keep visitors to Jurassic Park
safe from the rampaging monsters. Now
Grant has to gather up all the people he
came with and escape the island unscathed.
While the game sounds exciting,
hiding behind the giant film license is a
drab, overhead-view search and collect game
with a few nice texture-mapped 3D
sequences and a variety of irritating puzzles.
Throughout most of the levels, Dr. Grant
has to complete a series of tasks in order to

advance to the next section of the park.

Some of these tasks are truly annoying.
For instance, in the second section Grant
must pick way too many microscopic berries
scattered throughout the entire level to feed
to a rampaging Triceratops, thereby stalling
it so he can sneak by. This takes an inordi-
nate amount of time, but that's the not the
worst annoyance. If you acaially get past the

berry section and die shortly thereafter, the
sadistic developers have arranged that you
must repeat the berry gathering, complete
with more awful disk accessing.

Once one of the buildings has been
entered, the game goes into a decent
texture-mapped 3D sequence not too
dissimilar to the much ballyhooed Wolfen-
stein 3D on that, erm, other computer. The
scaling is nice and quick (on AGA
machines), and it's refreshing to see devel-
opers trying new things. However, that's
about it for visuals.

Aside from the 3D sections, Jurassic
Park's graphics are disappointing. The
scrolling is inexcusably jerky. It almost
appears as if the player is running ahead of

JURASSIC PARK

OCEAN ■

£25.99 CS40)

VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0 1

PAL

YES

1 HARD DRIVE

PROTECTION

1 NO

DISK-BASED |

Middle of the
pack search
and collect
game with a
catchy name.

■

- /^I

the scrolling and has to wait for the
computer to catch up. Also, when a mere
two or three enemies are on the screen, the
game slows down horribly and flickers for
no apparent reason. This is really inexcus-
able, especially in the AGA version. The
actual overhead level graphics are well-
drawn, but that's litde compensation for the
awful movement of the game.

The soundtrack, on the other hand, is
very atmospheric. The eerie tunes really add
a lot to the game, but seem to have the nasty
habit of fading in and our, resulting in a very
uneven musical score. Overall, the music is
actually very good, despite the minor short-
comings.

The crowning irritation is the fact that
the game comes on four disks, yet is not
hard drive installable. With that much data
and the horrific disk access, it should not
have disk-based copy protection.
Compounding the problem is the fact that
even though the game is run off of floppy
disks, game positions cannot be saved.
Instead, Ocean has provided us with the all
too console-like password system. It would
have been much more convenient to offer
disk saves instead.

Jurassic Park isn't a total loss. It's just
too bland, and with the many shortcomings
of this game, I can't really give it a high
rating. It does have lastability, though. The
levels are large and difficult which will keep
even the most experienced gamers busy for
awhile. That is, if they don't become
fossilized from boredom after the first few
tedious stages. ■ RB

JURASSIC PARK AGA

OCEAN ■

£27.99 (545)

VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0 1

PAL

3.0 ONLY

1 HARD DRIVE

PROTECTION 1

| NO

DISK-BASED 1

Faster 3D
sections, but
not the T. Rex
of a game we
were hoping for.

OOL 2

'HBO 00

In 1992 Gremlin brought out perhaps
one of the most sucessful Amiga plat-
formers to date. Accompanied by plenty
of hype and stellar reviews, Zool rose to the
top of the charts. Was I the only guy who
didn't like Zool? Well, right on schedule,
Gremlin has brought out Zool 2 as the
sequel to its overrated original. However,
Zool 2 isn't all that bad. It's an improvement
on the original and an overall
better game.

In Zool 2, the evil and
tyrannical Krool has
once again invaded
several worlds, sending
the mind lines of imag-
ination into peril. While
traversing through a multi-
tude of areas, Zool, the
intergalactic ninja, bashes
baddies and grabs tokens. This time
Zool's superior, Grand Master
Rool, has decided the task is much more
dangerous than before. To aid in Zool's
quest, Rool has called upon the services of
an able-bodied female Ninja, Zooz, and a
two-headed space mongrel, Zoon. Together,

*IT.I

they must battle the various enemy forces
all commanded by Krool's super powerful
lieutenant, Mental Block.

Gameplay-wise, it's your standard plat-
former. Each of the six worlds is split up
into 3 sub-levels. To complete each sub-
level, 99% of the tokens scattered around
must be collected. Once the third sub-level
of each world is reached, the player
must battle it out with Mental Block
in one of his many different forms.
Both space ninjas Zool and Zooz
can combat the horde of enemies
with energy shots, air spin attacks,
or just by crushing them with a
swift jump. Zool and Zooz have
fairly similar abilities, but Zooz
has a few additional tricks
*&\ up her sleeve. While
Zool has all his same
abilities from the first
ame, Zooz can drill through
floors and use her laser-whip for close
range attacks. Also, there are many power-
ups like smart bombs and power shots
throughout the game that can help move the
player along.

In this sequel there are several enter-
taining bonus levels. After a level has been
completed, if 3 Zoon icons have been
collected, the game will enter the bonus
round. These bonus rounds involve Zoon in
several different sub-games such as a
Breakout clone and the like. Bonus points,
extra lives, and other useful items can be
gained during these mini-games.

The graphics in Zool 2 are a step above

the original. The scrolling is still fast, but
doesn't seem to be as jerky as the former,
and there doesn't appear to be much
flicker and slowdown when many objects fill
the screen. Also, the animation of the vari-
ous characters is decent, and the actual level
graphics are fairly detailed.

The sound isn't as good as the original,
however. In the first game different back-
ground themes could be selected. In Zool 2
only sound effects, silence, or the single
incessant background tune can be toggled.
The problem with the music is not only the
fact that it is rather bland, but that it stays
constant throughout every level and doesn't
change according to the game action as in
other similar titles. It's best to play with
sound effects on because it gives more of a
solid feel to the game since the sounds actu-
ally coincide with the on-screen action.

Zool 2's gameplay is what makes it a lot
better than the first installment. While the
stages are fairly linear, there are
plenty of hidden
passageways leading
to prize rooms and
other areas. If the
game is too easy for
seasoned gamers or
too hard for the less
experienced, there
are options for vary-
ing the difficulty of
play.

With all of
this taken into
consideration,
Zool 2 is one of the
better Amiga platformers. It has a lot going
for it over the first Zool, and with options
like 2-player action and the greatly
enhanced gameplay, I'd recommend this to
the action game fan. Plus, a game that
comes with free candy in the box can't be all
that bad. ■ RB

Has Better Concepts, Inc
Gone Totally Crazy ??

No, But You Would Be Insane To Pass Up These
Deals. Only B.C.I. Can Offer Prices This Ridiculous!!

AMIGA

CD ROM MANIA I CD32

17 Bit Collection 2 CD $31.95 „„ , „ , „ _

.- r..± s~ i. i. ■*-.-, nr The Largest Selection At The

17 Bit Continuation $17.95 Lowest Prices Anywhere F!

Amlnet $14.95

CD PD I $21.95

CD PD II $21.95

CD PD III $21.95

Demo CD I $21.95

Demo CD II $21.95

Games CD I $28.95

Games CD 11 $28.95

Sexual Fantasies™ $59.95

Latest Fred Fish CD $19.95 'Call for other CD tltlest

All CD 32 TITLES
AVAILABLE. We Will
Beat Any Competitors
Price!! Call For Latest
Titles And Prices. Also
Call For Latest Price On
The CD 32 Game System.
Call Now! 1800 25 AMIGA

PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFTWARE

Our library of Public Domain Software contains over several thousand disks! Call / Write for free catalog or send $3 for catalog & sample disk & bonus
catalog disk! We are king of PD software for your Amiga! Our disks cost no more than $2 each and go as low as under $1!! If you see something advertised
by one of our competitors, and It's not here, we'll get It and sell It to you for less! For now, check out this great assortment of PD disks from us:

XXX ADULT ENTERTAINMENT

Picture Packages »1 - »10. All Different! Each
Package Contains 10 Disks Too Hot To Handle!
Slideshow mania of xxx action! In Living Color.
Any One Package $ 24.95
Any Five Packages $ 21.95 Ea.

All 10 Packages $ 149.95
That s Only $ 1.49 Per Disk !!

GAMES, GAMES, GAMES

Packages *1 - *5. Eack Package Consists of

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$9.99 Per 10 Disk Package

3 Packages For Only $27.95

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Turn Your Home Into An Instant Arcade!!

ASSASSINS GAME DISKS

The Newest & Most Exciting
Game Disks Direct From Europe.
Disks Are Of The Finest Quality.
The Library Consists Of Over 140
Exciting Disks. All Disks $ 1.00

Disk Catalog w/Came Listing $1.00

HILARIOUS BODILY NOISE PACKAGE

This 5 Disk Package Will Have You
Laughing So Hard, You Will Wet
Your Pants. Full Of Sample Burps,
Farts, Coughs, Wheezes, And Many
More Actual Bodily Noises. $ 7.95
Laugh Till It Hurts.

AGA UTILITY PACKAGE

Contains 10 New Disks That Include
Necessary Utilities For All AGA
Machines. Screen Promotion, WB
Enhancement, Icon Utilities, AGA
Viewers, Fractal Generators &
Much More. All 10 Disks $ 14.95

AGA SHOWOFF PKG

10 Disks Crammed Full With
Eurodemos, Animations And
Pictures That Really Show Off Your
AGA Machine. Don't Miss This One.
Superior Quality!

All 10 Disks $ 16.95

!Only$l Each! DOLLAR DISKS lOnly $1 Each!

Owlman Animation-Hilarious animation of owlman showing off his
super human abilities!

Lemmings Revenge -A 2 disk ($2) animation of those cute creatures
getting even with that nasty bomber.

How The Earth Began-Educational disk that teaches you all about the
big bang.

Super Killers WB 3.0-Virus killers for WB 3.0 (AGA) machines.
WB 2.X+ Hacks- A whole slew of funny WB hacks for 2.X+ machines.
Popeye-Old C64 classic brought to th Amiga.
Obtnrlon-Super fast & furious Defender clone.
Blaster-Blaring fast Galaga clone that is great!
Fighting Wairfors-Terlfflc PD Street Fighter clone.

Nostromoa Cheats 1.1 -Menu driven disk filled with cheats, hints &
solutions to many popular commercial games.

Schmegeggl Comic -A story of a caveman In cartoon strip style. Full color
& very funnyl

Amfbase 2 vl.8 New version of one of the best PD databases around.
Magnum 1.7-Create your own full blown disk magazine with this great

Text Engine 4. 1 -Newest version of the best PD word processor.

Easy Calc+ -2.x or higher only spreadsheet that Is said to be the

best •Shareware

Amos Loads Of Money -An Incredible slot machine for all you gamblers.

Super Tomcat-New vertical flying Jet blast em up.

Beach Animation Crazy animation of a scene at the beachl

HARDWARE SPECIALS

•Amiga AI200 Now Available At $389.95

•A500 Newly Refurbished And Totally Operational, Complete

Systems Only $129.95. Hurry! Supplies Are Limited.

•A4000 Systems Call For Latest Prices

•1942 Monitors Call For Latest Prices

•I084S Monitors Call For Latest Prices

•Big Foot Power Supply A500/A1200 $76.95

•Roctec Amiga 2 Button Mouse $21.95

•Mouse Master (Switches From Mouse To Joystick) $27.95

•A501 Clone 1/2 Meg Memory Expansion For A500 $39.95

•Slingshot Pro Gives A500 one A2000 Slot w/ Passtbrough $38.95

•Amiga Guru Diagnostic Kit . Combination Manual & Software

Kit that Locates And Corrects Almost Any Amiga Problem. Well

Worth The Investment. A500/A2000 $6.95

•Xtractort- Combination Chip Puller & Torx T-10 Wrench $6.95

•Xtractor Chip Puller W/O Torx Wrench $3.95

•KOOL-IT™ Cooling fan for A500/600/I200 $24.95

•Qwlka Swltcha™-4 socketed ROM selector for A500/2000 $24.95

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(914) 634 7097 Fax
Call Today !!

BETTER CONCEPTS, INC
10 MANDON TERRACE
NEW CITY, N.Y. 10956

For The Best Deals And Quality
Merchandise Anywhere, Call
BETTER CONCEPTS, INC.
Today! 1 800 25AMIGA

• —II

■ ,

Guess who bought the billboard outside Sega's European corporate headquarters...

STATE OF THE CD32 THE PAL PROBLEM

COMMODORE HAS officially released the THE AMERICAN launch of the CD 32 is
CD 32 to Amiga dealers in the United being hindered due to the fact that almost
States! However, Microcosm and Chaos 40% of the 60 titles currently available for
Engine (the games supposed to be bundled the machine require the European-standard
with the machine) were not included in the PAL video mode. Luckily, many CD 32
initial shipment and are promised "real soon users already have a PAL-compatible moni-
now". Additional joypads " " tor (like the 1084) and a

are currently available, cUKUrtAfM \.u mouse. By plugging the

and the Full Motion SOFTWARE SALES mouse into the second

Video units should be on ]_ AMIGA CD"*2 , . .38.6% py^A port and holding
sale in mid-May. The 2 PC CD-ROM 31 3% down both buttons while

SX1 computer expansion 3 SEGA MEGA CD 27.6% turning on the CD, a
unit (8199.95) from 4 PHILIPS CD-I . .1.8% PAL/NTSC boot menu

Paravision should also be 5 ^|_|_ OTHERS . 7% can ^ e accesse d. However,

available by the time you the PAL problem does

read this. The specs are impressive: floppy, affect every potential buyer who wants to
serial, parallel, and RGB video ports, FMV connect his CD 32 to a standard TV. Make
pass-thru, internal IDE and external SCSI sure you check video compatibility in our
hard drive connectors, and an optional AT review boxes before you buy a game that will
keyboard (829.95) and memory card cause your TV screen to roll. We hope game
(829.95) that supports up to 8MB. ■ publishers will address this problem soon. ■

1 Microcosm

2 Nick Faldo's Golf

3 Liberation

4 Zool

5 D/Generation

6 Whale's Voyage

7 Bubba N Stix

8 Sensible Soccer 92/93

9 Seek & Destroy
10 Super Putty

AMERICAN TOP

Labyrinth

Liberation

International Karate Plus

D/Generation

Robocod

CD Sports Football

Pirate's Gold

Nigel Mansell Racing

Diggers

Summer Olympix

CDTV DISC OF THE MONTH

SIM CITY

■5k ■ */*§" '~ 1

fiS-

1^;.^ ^'aHp39B

I5r si

There are a few CDTV games that should be
in every CD 32 owners collection. Sim City
was specifically rewritten for CDTV to
include new graphics and the Medieval,
Western, and Future cities. Unfortunately,
Sim City is a P/U.-only title and C/>'~
owners will not be able to save their games.
But while you're waiting for Sim City 2000
to make its way to the CD'-, why not try this
diamond in the roitghf

:d+g disc of the month
jimi hendrix smash hits

The CD p/us Graphics format never really
look off, but there are still some great titles to
be found in record store bins. This fimi
Hendrix CD is arguably the best example of
the genre, but it is very difficult to find. Play
this combo of psychedelic graphics ami music
at your next party and watch the reaction.'

FMV DISC OF THE MONT
THE FIRM

We knew that the Philips CD-I machine was
good for something other than filling up TV
in fame ma/ slots. Philips has released over .10
Full Motion Video lilies that are all compat-
ible with the CEy 2 . Yon can get great movies
like The Firm for just S24.9H - not bad for 3
compact discs and near LaserDisc quality!

LIBERATION

Four thousand levels to complete!
Liberation could be described more
accurately as a second way of life
instead of just a game. The plot is so intrigu-
ing, the character interaction is so fascinat-
ing, and the world is so immense that the
player is immediately consumed by it. You
may want to reserve a few weeks on your
calendar to play this game.

Liberation is the sequel to Captive, a
Dungeon Master-style role playing game
that appeared on the Amiga a few years ago.
Trill, the original captive rescued in the first
game, stumbles upon a major conspiracy. It
seems that renegade droids are going on a
lolling spree, and the government is framing
innocent people for the murders. Trill calls
upon his own droid team to save these new
captives. Trill's droids offer a first-person

DOES THE INTRODUCTION ON YOUR
COPY OF LIBERATION REMIND YOU OF
A BADLY-DUBBED JAPANESE MOVIE?

Liberation has a great srvtn-minuf*

opening sequence, but unfortunately the

digitized voita are not synebroniztd

tin graphics on U.S. matbinet.

Wuubujpt l".K, tnfd lit that tbty didn't
bavt NTSC units in test the game in pre -
production, and there ate no plans la fix
tbe problem. But don'/ let tbfc minor flaw

keep van from enjoying a fantasia game.

view of the action and are controlled by
laptop computer from Trill's remote hideout
in the mountains outside the city.

The player can control the four droids
individually or as a team to explore the
immense city. One of the most welcomed
features of the game is a completely
customizable interface that can be tailored
to fit your individual style of play. You can
use the CD^2 controller to perform all the
available functions, but using a mouse
results in more efficient play.

The futuristic city is beautifully
rendered with texture-mapped walls, and it
is inhabited by machines and a diverse
population who function independent of
your direction. Each being has a unique
personality and fully digitized speech. The
heart of the game consists of moving around
the city and talking with different residents.
These two actions are tightly interwoven as
you must extract useful information from
several sources in order to make your next
move. Some people are willing to help while
others are downright hostile - it takes a bit
of negotiating at times (which can take the
form of a bribe or a threat). You must also be
constantly aware of thieves and attackers
who can short circuit your plans.

Many different items necessary to your
success are scattered around the city and
other useful goods can be purchased from
black market traders on the lower level.
Outfit your droids with some heavy fire-
power or opt for chip implants to enhance
their abilities. The inventory system used in
Liberation is unique - all items procured
must be arranged so that they fit in your
droids' backpacks.

Not everyone will be as enthralled by
this game as I am. You must be willing to
devote a significant amount of time to get
oriented to the interface and to the task at
hand - arcade players may be turned off
initially. You can't just wander around
aimlessly in hopes that you stumble upon
the captive hidden in each level. The open-
ended architecture of the game will require
you to follow specific leads. Otherwise you'll
become lost in the huge city. The city
mapper is invaluable here, and the taxis can
also be very helpful in locating your desired

destination. Another drawback is that
Liberation takes up the majority of your
CD-^ save game memory - several people
have reported being unable to save their
games due to lack of free flash RAM space.

Minor annoyances aside, Liberation is
the type of game that perfectly complements
the Amiga CD . It's a sprawling adventure
that you can enjoy without having to wait
while the game installs or asks you to switch
disks. It has a movie-style introduction,
digitized speech, and background music that
flows to reflect the action in the game.
When it comes to depth of gameplay,
Liberation is unparalleled. This game retains
its value weeks after you purchase it - you'll
probably never finish it.

This is exactly how CD technology
should be utilized. ■ GM

'„

wr^'j%

LIBERATION CD32

MINDSCAPE ■

l £34.99 ($50)

VIDEO | CDTV

| NTSC NO

doubt - the best fjSF ^fifc\
released so Jar! ^35Hi»*

We here at Amiga Game Zone
couldn't be more thrilled that
Commodore has decided to
bundle Microcosm with every CD-' 2 sold in
America. This may seem like an odd state-
ment if you've already snuck a peek at the
mediocre grade we've given the game. Don't
be alarmed - there's a good explanation.

Remember back a few years ago when
Psygnosis released another graphically-stun-
ning game called Shadow of the Beast? It
sold Amigas by the truckload even though it
was crushed by reviewers and players alike
for its high difficulty curve and lack of
gameplay. But the real beauty of the game

There are a few undocumented features
in Microcosm that arc vital to the game:

Pressing the top left button will bring
up a map during the game - but he eare-
ful, flic ^;iuii: is not paused! From here
you can press the blue button to choose
different junction points and die green
button to immediately travel to them.

Press the green button when you sec the
Microcosm title for a full -screen intro!

And, oh yes, there h a cheat mode. We
feel that simply giving it away would
severely cut into your enjoyment of the
game - but anyone who pauses to recall
that old electronic game Simon should
be able to find the cheat.

was that it made people who were consider-
ing a PC or a Nintendo think twice. Up to
that point no one had seen such fluid
animation or multi-level parallax scrolling
outside of the arcade. It was one of the main
reasons I decided to buy my first Amiga 500.

Now you're probably asking, "What
does this have to with Microcosm?" The
answer is simple - Microcosm will sell the
CD 32 just like Shadow of the Beast sold the
Amiga 500. The animation is simply some
of the best I've ever seen - it was rendered
on high-end graphic workstations and then
converted to the CD . The inimitable
Psygnosis intro lasts over 5 minutes, mixing
live actors with a futuristic cityscape (in full
stereo sound, I might add).

The game itself is based on the plot of
the movie Fantastic Voyage (or Innerspace,
for the younger set). You must pilot a micro-
scopic ship through a human body to
destroy Grey M, an evil droid that is
controlling the human's brain. Your minia-
turized ship is equipped with a variety of
weapons to fight the body's natural defenses
and ultimately destroy Grey M.

Traveling through the body for the first
time is a dizzying experience - cell walls
rush past your ship at high speed and there
are hundreds of enemies to shoot. But after
the initial fascination of the game wears off,
it quickly becomes apparent that this is just
another Space Harrier style shoot 'em-up.
There is little variety among the 5 levels,
and, like Shadow of the Beast, the difficulty
curve is high. It should be noted that the
gameplay is better than the original FM
Towns version, which sported a first-person
view instead of a third-person one. (That's
why you can still see the interior as well as
the exterior of your ship. Go figure.)

So why are we so glad Microcosm
comes free with the CD 32 bundle? This is
the type of game everyone should have to
show off his machine. Believe me, jaws will
drop, gasps will be heard, and your friends
will inevitably ask if you have the Full
Motion Video cartridge (no, you don't need
one for the game). But the real beauty of the
situation, again, is that they too will want a
CD 32 after seeing Microcosm. And you
didn't have to pay the outrageous S70 price
tag that Psygnosis is asking for the game -
gee, SNES and Genesis owners regularly
pay that much for cartridges. ■ GM

MICROCOSM CD32

PSYGNOSIS ■ £44.99 (S70)

VIDEO

CDTV

INI31 NU

THE title to -ifiSSfc-

show off to JT]nk

your friends, [S |[ J|I

but not worth *v» jMfc/

the high price. % ^5B?'

CD SPORTS FOOTBALL

I first saw CDTV Sports Football (the
original title) at the Consumer
Electronics Show three years ago when
Commodore was pushing its doomed S1000
"home multimedia machine". Touted as the
improved sequel to the venerable TV Sports
Football, it showcased quarter-screen
CDXL movie clips for announcers, referees,
crowd shots, and the post-game show.
Various delays in production kept pushing
back the title's release. Now it has finally
appeared as a CD-^-only game. Funny, I
can't find any improvements over the game I
saw long ago. It's even kind of irritating to
hear the announcer say "CD (pause) Sports
Football" now because the "TV" part has
been clumsily edited out.

Another letdown is the omission of
actual N.F.L. players' names. It's difficult to
get into a game where a guy named "Brian
Brian" keeps making plays. My biggest
gripe, however, is that you can't switch your
defensive player to the man closest to the
ball. This reduces much of the game to a
spectator sport.

The actual gameplay offers no real
improvement over TV Sports Football. Your
receivers still disappear off the top of the
screen and are then represented by arrows -
but there's no real way to tell the amount or
type of coverage they're facing. Running is
next to impossible without a lot a practice.

But don't despair, sports fans - there
are a few bright spots. The computer player

isn't quite the pushover you faced in TV
Sports Football. Over 100 different plays
can be selected from detailed on screen
diagrams, and the locker room interviews
after the game are pretty funny The CDXL
movie segments are a definite plus. Stats are
displayed after every game, but they're
rendered meaningless since they can't be
saved for an entire season. I wish I could
recommend this one if only because of the
severe lack of quality sports games for the
Amiga. Unfortunately, CD Sports Football
is just another good-looking game that's
boring to play. ■ GM

CD32 SPORTS FOOTBALL

COMMODORE I

I $59.99

1 VIDEO

CDTV '

NTSC

NO |

Top-notch
presentation
can't disguise
mediocre
gameplay.

k
\

M J^jj.

tt'H

'..">.' .!'."«. V"... ,,/WiV.,

Prepare to take command of a motley
crew of men and sail the high seas in
search of adventure and wealth.
Pirates! Gold blends elements of strategy,
action, and adventure into one satisfyingly
complete production.

The game centers around traveling to
different ports and trading goods with the
locals. You can play without breaking the
law, but you'll find pillaging and plundering

to be a much more lucrative lifestyle. If you
decide to take the latter route, you'll have to
become skilled at arcade-style swordfights as
well as land and sea battles. You'll also need
some navigational skills to complete secret
missions, search for treasure, and rescue lost
relatives. A well managed journey will result
in fame and fortune.

Many of you may remember the origi-
nal Pirates! game released several years ago
on the Amiga. This new CD-only version
offers updated 256-color graphics and
enhanced sound effects while retaining the
same addictive gameplay that made the first
game so popular. There's also a fully-
rendered introduction and an in-game map
(finally!) It would have been even better if
the map was printed in the manual as well so
you could consult it without interrupting
play.

The only real drawback, some will
argue, is the lack of variation in play. True,
most of the arcade sequences are repetitious,
but that never really bothered me. I was too
consumed with completing my mission.

Tfc vwv» mtrtiuu *»« i* Hi jtug
Viiu*j, Ui lit imn W#MH

1 Wl

Microprose has taken a proven concept
and enhanced it with all new graphics.
Pirates! Gold is recommended to everyone
from first time players to seasoned captains
who enjoyed the original game. ■ GM

PIRATE'S GOLD CD3

MICROPROSE ■ £29.99 ($45)

VIDEO

An excellent
blend of strat-
egy, action,
and adventure.

CDTV

OSCAR

THE AGA version of this colorful platformer
was reviewed last issue. It is pleasing to find
some nice additions on the CD version. A
full MIDI soundtrack has been included as
well as two additional levels exclusive to the
CD^ . One new level is "Commodore
World" in which you are treated to disks,
chips, monitors, etc., all displaying the
CBM logo - neat!

Play consists of avoiding enemies and
searching for little Oscar statuettes. This
can get repetitive at times, especially since
enemies are resurrected after being killed -
I hate that. However, the graphic detail is so
good that you can't help but like Oscar. ■

SEEK & DESTROY

uliit^lLL

£ F=JJJiJ

IMAGINE PLAYING Desert Strike from an
overhead perspective, and you'll have a good
idea of what to expect from Seek &c Destroy.
The Apache helicopter you control remains
stationary at the bottom of the screen while
the ground scrolls underneath it in a circu-
lar pattern. There is a wide assortment of
weapons and missions, plus a great gravelly-
voiced commentary that follows your
actions.

The main problem with Seek &c
Destroy is that there isn't enough variety in
the missions to keep your interest. The
graphics are passable, but I'd suggest waiting
for a CD version of Desert Strike. ■

SEEK & DESTROY CD32

MINDSCAPE ■

£29.99 ($45)

VIDEO

CDTV 1

PAL

360" overhead

v^as

Sfev

helicopter

■v^

Pfc\

arcade game

II A- III

ill 3- -**'

with good

sound effects.

UCK ROCK

[

POOR CHOCK. How can he hope to
contribute to evolution when his wife
Ophelia has been kidnapped by Gary
Gritter, Chuck's old nemesis? It looks like
another hard day of scrolling platform
action for our Cro-Magnon hero.

Chuck must belly-butt oncoming
enemies to reach the end of dozens of short
levels. The humorous animation adds a
great deal to the enjoyability of the game.
Multiple button support is also included.

It's good to see that Core Design is
releasing a series of older Amiga titles at
reduced prices. No, it's not state of the art,
but it is priced right. ■

ARABIAN NIGHTS

BEARING FEATURES similar to Chuck Rock
(budget-priced platformer in which you
must rescue the girl from the evil dude) and
almost every other game of this genre,
Arabian Nights is actually well-
programmed and includes some puzzles
that keep you on your toes. This is probably
the closest you'll come to finding a Mario-
style game on the Amiga CD^ 2 .

If you've seen Soccer Kid by Krisalis
and think the main characters of the two
games look like brothers, you're right. Both
were developed concurrently by the
programmers at Krisalis using the same
game engine. ■

KRISALIS ■ £14.99 (525}

VIDEO ! ! ,m S w

The closest
thing to Mario
style action
without
buying a Nin...

JOHN BARNES SOCCER

WE ASKED AGZ resident soccer guru Meri
(see inside back cover) about John Barnes
Soccer because we're just not too knowl-
edgeable about this thing the Europeans
call football. Curiously, she just started
giggling uncontrollably when we mentioned
the title. We decided Meri must not think
too much of this one.

Our favorite tagline on the case reads
"CD quality sound effects". WOW! How do
you think they managed that on the CD 32 ?
Actually, the sounds are limited to poor
crowd samples that cycle over and over and
over. If you like soccer, you should spend a
little extra and buy Sensible Soccer. ■

JOHN BARNES SOCCER CD32

KR1SMIS ■

£14.99 ($2-5)

VIDEO

CDTV 1

NTSC

Why would
anyone buy
this when
Sensi Soccer is
available?

[ n ]

^■, Hv ^^H

m^/ WF yj

DISPOSABLI HERO

GREMLIN'S LATEST sideways-scrolling shoot
'em up doesn't really break any new ground,
but it does have some tasty visuals and a
pumping soundtrack. Five large levels full of
the obligatory mayhem and carnage await
you.

A great feature of this game is the vari-
able difficulty settings. Most shooters have
easy, medium, and hard modes which give
you 3, 5, or 7 lives, respectively. However,
Disposable Hero varies the number of
enemies you have to face depending on
which setting you choose. This makes for an
enjoyable experience for everyone, regard-
less of ability. ■

"t-"

WHEN IK+ was released many, many moons
ago, it was hailed by critics as one of the best
fighting games ever. Well, gaming has come
a long way since that time, and there are
now many heirs to the beat 'em up crown.
IK.+ was long forgotten until it was recently
re-released on CD-' 2 . Playing it again
reminded me of how far games have actually
progressed on the Amiga.

The graphics, while good for their
time, look terribly dated now. You basically
fight against two opponents {ad nauseum)
on the same static background. If you
bought this game, don't get mad - try press-
ing the blue button for a good laugh. ■

INTERNATIONAL KARATE PLUS CD32

SYSTEM 3 ■ £1499 ($25)

VIDEO CDTV 1

NTSC NO

Terribly dated 4
fighting game ,'f|
for one or two VU
players.

^^SHft**

FRONT! Ill

FRONTIER ADDICTS: The CD 32 version of
Frontier has been released! Now you can fly
missions as a space trader or intergalactic
mercenary and visit the outer reaches of the
galaxy with your CD 32 ! And unfortu-
nately... that's it.

Huh? You ask how we can make such a
bold statement and end with "that's it"?
Well, it's simple, really. Frontier for the
CD 32 is exactly the same as Frontier for the
Amiga (you can read the complete review
on page 10). No CD soundtrack. No 256
colors. No gourand shading. They didn't
even include the saved game positions from
the disk version! We were robbed! ■

IONTIER CD'

GAMETEK ■ £2999 ($45)

VIDEO

CDTV

NTSC NO

The original
version was
great, but we
expected more
on the CD32.

DEEP CORE

ICE'S CROSS between Alien Breed and Gods
falls far short of attaining the heights
reached by either of those two games. Deep
Core is a standard platform game in which
you control Capt. Dawnrazor as he grunts
his way through 9 levels of mindless play.

We have no problem with converting
Amiga games for release on the CD , but
it really yanks our chains when companies
don't make a single change in the software
to take advantage of the CD-^'s capabilities.
It would have been easy to add support for
a second button for jumping, but instead
we're stuck pressing up while 5 buttons on
the controller remain unused. Skip it. ■

DEEP CORE CD32

PREY

PREY PULLS you into the game with a great
storyline and an intriguing opening
sequence. It seems a mining colony on an
alien world has been having some strange
problems lately, and it's your job to evacuate
the base. You know what comes next... the
game's subtitle is "An Alien Encounter".

This game was originally released for
the ill-fated CDTV, and unfortunately the
graphics don't appear to be enhanced at all
for the CD^ 2 version. Play consists of
simply walking through the monocolor
halls, finding colonists, and fending off
aliens. You'll be bored after a few tries. It's
really a shame there isn't more to it. ■

PREY CD32

ALMATHERA I

I £29.99 CS45)

VIDEO

CDTV

NTSC

Loads of
atmosphere
but minimal
and dull
gameplay.

w^ Hk /N ^

BUBBA *N' STIX

AN ODD feeling comes over you as you start
this game... a tree is following you. But soon
you'll come to accept this sort of bizarre
logic when attempting to solve the puzzles
facing you in Bubba 'N' Stix.

This is a platform game with puzzles
galore. The cartoon-style graphics look
incredible, and the CD^ 2 version has an
animated introduction not included on the
floppy version. You control Bubba on his
journey with Stix, a multi-talented alien life
form. Stix acts as both a weapon and a tool
for Bubba, and you'll need to figure out how
to utilize him effectively to get out of many
"sticky" situations. You'll like this one. ■

LOTUS TRILOGY

THE LOTUS scries of racing games on the
Amiga was one of the best collections ever
produced for the machine. The speed junkie
in all of us should be thankful to Gremlin
for packaging the three games together on
one CD. A CD soundtrack was added to
complete the bargain.

These games are fun if you're playing
alone, but with a second player they really
get going. Each game also has its own
unique qualities. Lotus 1 is the best of the
three and features circular courses. Lotus 2
gives full-screen views and timed stretches.
Lotus 3 offers both styles of racing.
Definitely a good buy. ■

>TUS TRILOGY CD32

GREMLIN ■ £29.99 ($45)

VIDEO

CDTV

NTSC NO

Great racing
action in this
collection of
all three Lotus
games.

DONK!

you've GOT to respect The Hidden, the
programming team behind Donk! They
really tried to spice up the CD->2 version of
this tired Amiga platformer. However, their
cosmetic additions did nothing to improve
the substandard gameplay There is a new
rave soundtrack and some animated linking
sequences, but the same impossible pixel-
perfect jumps still have to be made.

Whoever created the sound effects for
Donk! needs to be caned. The original
Amiga game had a terrible quacking noise
every time Donk jumped, but in this version
it's been changed... for the worse! Sounds
like regurgitation to me. Erm, sorry. ■

PROJECT-X

PROJECT-X WAS one of the three best shoot
'em ups ever released for the Amiga (Blood
Money and SWIV being the other two), so
it comes as no surprise that we're recom-
mending it highly. Project-X has formidable
enemies, multiple power-ups, digitized
speech, and a good difficulty curve - every-
thing you could ask of a classic shooter. The
only real drawback is that you'll have to play
the game in PAL to really enjoy it.

Also bundled on this CD is F17
Challenge, an average racing game. You
won't be playing it for long... because you'll
want to have another go at blasting the
bejeezus out of Project-X! ■

ALIEN BREED

* " 1 fe

TEAM 17 is well known in the Amiga
community for creating some great exam-
ples of certain genres. While none of these
games are extremely innovative, all are
highly polished and playable affairs.

Alien Breed is a Gauntlet-style over-
head shooter that oozes with atmosphere.
You must fend off the persistent alien horde
and escape alive. This game can be scary at
times, but we tend to prefer the onslaught
that greets you in Alien Breed 2.

Qwak is a lighthearted tribute to
Bubble Bobble and is very playable. The
two-player mode is great fun. Don't miss
out on this great two game combo. ■

TEAM 17 ■ £24.99 ($40)

VIDEO

The best
Gauntlet and
Bubble Bobble
impersonators
moneu can buu.

CDTV

5 SUPER PUTTY

«' m luuti

fcft

'— ■ —

•> * v .

flip

MOST PLATFORM game heroes use weapons
or dispose of adversaries by jumping on
their noggins (I'll never truly understand
why they do that). Breaking the mold, Putty
has a unique way of dealing with his
enemies - he absorbs them.

Putty must stretch and bounce his way
across a multitude of levels, escorting robots
to safety. The thugs standing in Putty's way
are a varied bunch - sort of like the motley
crew from Monty Python's Search for the
Holy Grail. You'll face evil incarnate in the
form of Mutant Chinese Chicken, Old
Man Spitoon, and Terminator Carrot.
Don't miss this, um, absorbing game. ■

ALFRED CHICKEN

IF YOU have young children and most of
your CD-^ games are too complicated for
them, Alfred Chicken offers a gentle learn-
ing curve. Each level has big platforms (no
pixel-perfect jumps here) and few surprises
(enemies never attack you directly). A
bouncy tunc that kids will enjoy plays in the
background.

The CD-" version of Alfred Chicken
has been updated with new background
graphics that are pleasant and unobtrusive -
no day-glo Zool backgrounds here. While
grownups will quickly tire of the simplistic
platform action, the younger set will find
hours of enjoyment from this one. ■

ALFRED CHICKEN CD32

MINDSCAPE ■ £25.99 (S40)

VIDEO

A forgiving
platform game
that is great
for the kids.

CDTV

■ JVtt<.

CHAOS ENGINE

THE BITMAP Brothers know how to make
great games. Period. Presentation, graphics,
music, gameplay - every aspect of The
Chaos Engine has been tweaked to perfec-
tion. Choose from 6 hardened mercenaries
and lay waste to mutant upon mutant.

The most intriguing feature of this
game is the one player option - you play
with an intelligent computer controlled
player. You'll find yourself depending on
him to get you out of many tight situations!
The Bitmaps have also included CD sound
effects in the game itself. The chirping birds
on the first level were so realistic that I
swore they were right outside the office! ■

FIRE FORCE

KJLL! kill! Kill! (Oh, sorry.) That's the basic
premise for Fire Force. Lots and lots of
mindless killing. We can understand why
some of you might be getting a big grin on
your face - we too have played Syndicate.
But Fire Force doesn't really offer much
depth in terms of variety or playability. You
basically run from right to left, slaying all
who stand in your path.

Yes, all the grizzly realities of war are
here: enemy soldiers scream out in pain and
blood oozes from their freshly-slit necks...
but is that really what you want from a
game? We have a difficult time justifying
time spent playing this game. ■

FIRE FORCE CD32

NIGEL MANSELL

GREMLIN IS the undisputed king of racing
game production. The company's output on
the Amiga has been nothing short of
prolific. That's why it seems odd that this
was the first of the publisher's driving games
to be chosen for re-release on the CD-' 2 .
Team Suzuki and both Super Cars games
were better than this. Ah, well...

NMWC lets you race any course on
the Fl circuit. However, scrolling is not as
smooth as in many games of this type, and
it is darn near impossible to pass cars with-
out some contact. Nothing against Nigel,
though. At last year's Indy 500 I was there
rooting for him to win. Ah, well... ■

€LMANSEUS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CD32

GREMLIN ■ £25.99 (S40,;

VIDEO

CDTV

NTSC I NO

Decidedly
average racing
game in a
field of speed-
ier contenders.

LABYRINTH OF TIME

jg£€

It's very seldom that art merges success-
fully with video game design.
Cyberdreams' Darkseed and Activision's
now ancient Portal are two of the few exam-
ples that come to mind. Now there is also
Labyrinth of Time, a new visual trip for the
senses. It's slow and methodical, stylish,
intense, and very mysterious.

Labyrinth is unusual in that there are
no enemies to conquer and no treasure to
unearth - virtually everything in this game
has a very specific purpose. AH the graphics
were created in the Amiga's HAM mode
and the results are truly stunning. There is a
powerful background soundtrack in addition
to excellent sound effects.

The plot of Labyrinth could have been
taken from a stylish modern-day fantasy
novel. Your role is that of an average guy
coming home after another day of mundane
existence. Suddenly your world changes
when a mysterious apparition arrives, plead-
ing for your help. The vision is Daedalus, the
greatest architect of ancient Crete. Now, in
bondage to the evil King Minos, Daedalus
has been forced to build a labyrinth. Minos
has ordered a labyrinth so twisted and
powerful that it can meld time and space,
allowing it to exist in all places at all times.
Using this construct, Minos hopes to gain
ultimate power. You are the chosen one,
because you are the only mortal that
Daedalus could reach in time. It is your job
to unravel the secrets of the Labyrinth and
then to destroy it.

It's not easy. Labyrinth is a first person
RPG, with two-thirds of the screen devoted
to the gameworld view and the bottom third

% i

[i-pr^i-*n

showing the command icons. The heart of
Labyrinth is interaction, and there are of
plenty of items included in the game with
which you can accomplish your goal. A lot
of game time will be spent just figuring out
in what order to do things (deciding what to
do with the quarter is the first big test), and
it is a fascinating environment in which to
play.

Neither the soundtrack nor the graph-
ics could have been done on floppy -
Labyrinth is first generation CD software in
the truest sense. So, some problems are to be
expected. The main flaw is the perspective.
Instead of a real 360 degree environment
like other first person games (Liberation and
the Eye of the Beholder series), the rooms in
Labyrinth are comprised of four different

screens. Move in a new direction or into a
new room, and the game doesn't scroll - it
just loads up a new screen and displays it. As
a first generation effort, this small flaw is
acceptable, but in the future I expect better
design.

My only other complaint with the
game is the lack of digitized voice, particu-
larly at the beginning when Daedalus
appears. He talks to you, but the words are
simply displayed at the bottom of the screen,
instead of being piped through the speakers.
Disappointing, but tolerable nonetheless.

Labyrinth has no action in the tradi-
tional sense of the word. It's a true explo-
ration, problem, and puzzle solving expedi-
tion. The atmosphere it conveys is undeni-
able as you travel through not just stone wall
mazes, but an old west town, a Mayan
temple, film noir city scenes, and even a
space station. Labyrinth is a welcome addi-
tion to the CD->2 because it is one of the few
tides that utilize the immense graphic stor-
age capabilities of the CD format. This type
of game is becoming more prevalent on the
MPC and Mac CD formats, but thus far,
Labyrinth is the only one of its breed on the
CD". That's unfortunate, because after
tasting some of what's possible with this
machine, a person will only want more.
Maybe something better will arrive in the
future, but Labyrinth is way ahead of any
adventure currently available on disk. ■ JD

CASTLES

Many of you may remember one of
the first BASIC computer games
to appear back in the early eight-
ies: Lemonade Stand. In this game, it was
your charge to manage a simple stand that
sold lemonade. You were in control of what
supplies you would buy and how much
profit you could make on each sale. Factors
such as weather, friendliness, and location all
affected the success (or failure) of your new
business. Castles II - Siege & Conquest is
another in a long line of games similar to the
early Lemonade Stand. However, this time
the goal is much grander and more complex
than selling lemonade.

It is the time of The Hundred Years
War. The mythical King
Charles of Bretagne has
died without leaving an
heir. The countryside is in
chaos as the lords scheme,
battle, and build - trying to
win favor with the Pope,
the only one who can name
one of them the new king.
You are one of the five
lords vying for the royal
title.

The primary way in
which a lord gains power is
by controlling as many
territories as possible.
Territories are obtained by
starting (and winning)
bloody battles. These ill-
gotten lands are then
unified by building massive
castles.

When the gameplay begins, you have
but one territory. Through shrewd use of
your military, political, and administrative
skills, you must forge an empire. Like the
early Lemonade Stand, you have control
over many resources in your domain. By
sending out scouts, you can find out what
valuable resources are available in surround-

ing territories. Based upon your scouts'
information, you may decide to go into
battle with a given province. But be careful!
If you haven't gathered up enough raw
materials to outfit your armies, you'll end up
with a bloody defeat instead of a victory
celebration. Remember to keep your politi-
cal network active. Your chances of being
crowned king by the Pope diminish if you've
upset one of his allies. There are many
factors that you must consider in order to
successfully rule your realm. From feeding
your soldiers to picking the proper location
for building your castles, you must be quick,
decisive, and efficient.

Once you have enough territory, you

need to build a castle. Castles II allows you
to literally create your own castle, from
selecting the thickness of the walls to plac-
ing turrets and spires. Want a moat around
your castle? No problem. But no matter how
large a castle is, poor design can often lead
to a quick death for the soldiers inside.
When you've conquered enough land and
built enough castles, you may petition the
Pope (assuming you haven't angered him) to
crown you king. If he accepts your petition,
the game is won.

Castles II was originally written for the
CDTV, and there is even a reference to the
CDTV's optional FDD (Flash Disk
Device) for saving games. Surprisingly,
Interplay decided to make the release
version compatible only with the CD.
There was really no reason for this move

since there are no AGA images on the disc.
The opening 16-bit audio is fantastic
and really creates a medieval mood, but the
imagery is a basic ECS slideshow.
Subsequent gameplay audio is a rather poor
sounding music track using just the CD^'s
standard 8-bit audio. The movie clips
included to segue important events are also
disappointing. Taking up only an 1/8 of the
screen, they are very choppy - about 7
^^^^^^^^^^j frames per second. Both
| the CDTV and the
CD 32 are capable of
much smoother anima-
tions. Finally, the use of
a mouse in the second
game port is a must for
this game. The standard
joypad controller just
isn't up to speed for this
pointer-intensive game.
Interplay keeps the
pointer control very slow
and frustrating.

While not a stand-
out CD 32 title, Castles
II is a worthy successor
to the original game.
There is more than
enough strategic game-
play to justify its
purchase. The interface
is easy to use, and the fact that it appears to
be originally designed for the CDTV is a
testimony to the amount of time expended
in creating the Castle universe and extend-
ing the variety of outcomes. ■ JC

STOCWftRHVlRELh

Relations

Ualois 2
ftnjou:3
fllbi;
Bur an i

OIPLNT

rtappm«5:6

HftFFINESS
COUNCIL

CASTLES 2 CD32

^■^■■^HB^^H^^^H^M^^M^B^B^IH^^

INTERPLAY ■ £29.99 ($45)

VIDEO CDTV j

NTSC NO

Aspiring stone
masons might /jj
want to give |f!
this one a «
look.

■

SEVEN GATES
OF JAMBALA

ORIGINALLY RELEASED for the Amiga over
5 years ago, this incredibly lame excuse for a
game was shoveled on to CD recently at full
price apparently to cash in on the demand
for CD-*2 titles. Ironically, this was one of
the first games programmed by Thalion, the
team responsible for such quality titles as
No Second Prize and Lionheart.

Seven Gates of Jambala is a scrolling
platform game with one of the most irritat-
ing soundtracks I've ever heard - no, it isn't
a CD track, folks. Play is limited to avoid-
ing enemies, purchasing items, and avoiding
more enemies. Since this game wasn't re-
programmed for a two-button joystick,
jumping is ridiculously difficult. Hey, why
bother? A quick death is needed here. ■

SEVEN GATES OF JAMBALA CD32

GRANDSLAM ■ £2599 ($40)

VIDEO

CDTV

NTSC NO

Severely dated
platform game
with bland
visuals and no
real appeal.

CHAMBERS
OF SHAOLIN

JUST READ the introductory paragraph from
the previous review again. Sadly, everything
written there also holds true for Chambers
of Shaolin. Hey, I'm all for capitalism, but not
at my own expense! How can they expect us
to even consider buying these hopelessly
dated titles at full price?

Chambers of Shaolin is a beat 'em up
that could have just as easily been an old
C64 game. The sprites are that blocky, the
music is that poor, and the gameplay is just
plain non-existent. Even the additional sub-
games could easily pass for PD software.

To be absolutely fair, Chambers of
Shaolin isn't quite as bad as Seven Gates of
Jambala. However, Amiga Game Zone just
doesn't give the mythical "F+" grade. ■

CHAMBERS OF SHAOLIN CD32

GRANDSLAM ■ £2599 ($40)

VIDEO

Severely dated
beat 'em up
with bland
fighters and no
real gameplay.

CDTV

DANGEROUS
STREETS

ONE OF the most poorly designed beat 'em
ups of all time, Dangerous Streets pits you
against 8 characters who possess some truly
bizarre fighting moves (one combatant
turns into a box!) The static screen shown
above is misleading - there are ridiculously
few animation frames for each character and
you can usually defeat your opponent by just
moving forward while pressing the button.
My favorite fighter is Tony - he lights up a
Lucky every time he wins. What a great
message for the age group this pathetic
game will inevitably attract! Hey kids, don't
smoke... unless, of course, you want to be
cool. Don't show this one to friends who've
played SF2 or MK on other machines -
you'll be a laughing stock. ■

DANGEROUS STREETS CD3

C O AA I isl G

S O O ISI ULTIMATE BODY BLOWS

.■vWWl

FIRST, ADD one part Body Blows. Then mix
in a heaping spoonful of Body Blows
Galactic. Sprinkle with 9 new AGA back-
grounds. Stir. Let simmer until May 1994.
The result of this recipe for action is
Ultimate Body Blows, Team 17's excellent
new beat 'em up. What other fighting game
gives you an amazing 22 characters from
which to choose? Also included are 16 CD
audio tracks and a "Tag-Team" feature that
allows players to pick a team of fighters to
play against another team! Our hunger for a
good beat 'em up is about to be satisfied. ■

TURTLE LIGHTNING PUBLIC DOMAIN

User-Friendlv
Collection

We Have: TLAS-FISH-TBAG-EUROPEAN-LICENSEWARE-COMMERCIAL

Try These 6-Disk Sets For $10.00 Each Set:

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POWER-MOD SET: 50 Great Music MODS Plus ED-Player (Awesome)
SPACE ODYSSEY: Fantastic 6-Disk Demo for 1.3 With 1 Meg Chip

ALL FRED FISH DISKS ONLY $1.40 EACH OUR FISH-CATALOG DISK IS $1.00

ATT: PROGRAMMERS

We are seeking submissions for our new
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seeking your Shareware programs.

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Excellent learning tool. By: Dennis Soares, $6.50 1 Meg.
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relating to Fractions. By: Dennis Soares, $6.50 1 Meg.
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with maps, charts, graphs, and tables. By: Michael Kramer, $6.50 1 Meg.
LGM-10: ROBOT REBELLION, A platform style game and even has a neat

level-editor. By: Ben Marty, $6.50 512K
LGM-20: Q-BERTA, You know the game! This one is EXCELLENT, over 100

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561 -Parachute Joust
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LIBERATION

Now Amiga owners don't have to buy
a CD-^2 in order to play Liberation!
In a surprise move, Mindscape has
released the stormer of a game on floppy
formatter all machines. No, you don't need
an AGA Amiga (but you do need at least
1.5MB of RAM and a hard drive is strongly
recommended). Liberation detects AGA
machines and enhances its graphics and
sound accordingly. Depending on the speed
of your computer, you can choose to install
up to 11 megabytes of wall map graphics on
your hard drive! Be prepared to wait a long
time for all of these images to render,
though - even on a speedy machine it will
take about an hour.

So what did Mindscape have to cut
from the CD-' 2 version of the game to make
it all fit on five disks? Not much, actually.
The only missing feature is digitized
speech. The intros and conversations are no
longer narrated, but that's to be expected
from a disk-based game.

There are so many locations to explore
and so many people to meet that this game
can be daunting to the uninitiated. But
those who persevere and learn how to navi-
gate in this strange world will be rewarded.
Did I mention that Liberation won't be out
on the PC until late summer? ■ OM

LIBERATION

MINDSCAPE ■ £29.99 (S45)

VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0

NTSC | REQ. 1.5MB

HARD DRIVE PROTECTION

YES MANUAL

Floppy version
of the CD 32
epic still shines
even without
the voiceovers.

TURRICA

The Turrican series has always repre-
sented the pinnacle of speed, lavish
graphics, and tremendous playability
in the action genre, no matter on what plat-
form it has appeared. Despite various threats
from Rainbow Arts claiming that this game
would never see the light of day due to
Amiga games piracy, Turrican 3 has finally
made it to the Amiga scene. While it has
the great visuals and intense
action of the first two, it
comes up a bit short in my
estimation.

In Turrican 3 the
"Machine" is back,
wreaking havoc
upon the universe
once again. Ben
McGuire must don
the high-tech
Turrican suit to
destroy the forces of evil
and rescue the damsel in
distress from the clutches of
the Machine's evil troops. To do
this Ben has to blast his way through 15
levels of non-stop enemy carnage.

Turrican has most of his standard capa-
bilities from the first two installments. He
can use a variety of weapons found in each
of the levels including the standard "smart-
bomb", the combat roll technique in which
he tumbles along the ground dropping
mines everywhere, and the plasma rope for
those hard-to-reach areas. In the later levels,
effective use of the plasma rope is a must.

The problem with Turrican is that it's
too easy. Too easy? Yes, you heard me right,
a Turrican game that is EASY! The manual
says that the game has 15 levels, but I
breezed through all of them in one sitting
on the "normal" difficulty mode. Some of
them really gave me a workout, but with
piles upon piles of power ups, only a few
levels really presented a challenge.

Turrican 3's graphics are above average.
There are plenty of sprites and bobs flying
all over the place with minimal flicker. If an

accelerated Amiga is used, the flicker is
totally eliminated. The colors seem a bit
limited, though. On the more dark and
monochromatic levels the palette used gives
a nice effect, but on other stages it seems as
if not enough color was used. There is
extensive use of parallax scrolling and large
end-of-level bosses as well.

The music and sound effects in
Turrican 3 are also well done.
The game says the sound is
in Dolby Surround, but I
didn't have the equip-
ment to test that out.
Apparently the game
uses a special 7 voice
format for the
music, but I still
heard the musical
instruments getting
overlapped by the
sound effects as in other
standard 4 voice games.
Experienced Amiga
gamers will find Turrican 3 too
easy. However, don't rule it out completely.
If you're looking for a nice quick action
game that is fun to play and not too daunt-
ing for the average game player, then
Turrican 3 is it. ■ RB

TURRICAN 3

RENEGADE

■

£25.99 ($40)

VIDEO 1.3/2.0/3.0

PAL YES

1 HARD DRIVE 1 1 PROTECTION]

NO | DISK-BASED |

Action-packed *£&
game thafsjust J^
too easy for 'M £
experienced vjL
players. ^S

)

JET STRIKE

Jet Strike from Rasputin Software
(distributed in North America by
Seascape Software) doesn't readily fall
into any particular game category. It's
kind of like a sideways-scrolling shoot 'em-
up, in that you fly left and right and do
massive amounts of property damage to
enemy equipment. It's kind of like a flight
game, in that you fly planes (and the occa-
sional mythical winged reptile... go figure)
to inflict said property damage. And it's
kin d of like a platform game, in that you can
use level codes to skip around a bit, not to
mention the little bonus packages you can
sometimes pick up when you explode an
enemy plane in mid-air. These several parts
make an enjoyable, albeit frequently frus-
trating, whole.

The premise behind Jet Strike is that
the evil organization SPUDD ("Society of
Particularly Undesirable ^^^^^^^^

Dastardly Dudes - a secret
organization made up of arms
dealers, mad dictators,
psychopaths, and traffic
wardens") is about to make its
big push for world conquest.
SPUDD already has many
governments in its hip
pocket. You and your
mechanic, Harry, have to save
the world by "borrowing"
aircraft and munitions from local air forces.
Although you have a wide variety (but
limited quantity) of planes and helicopters
from which to choose, you have only one life
(your own) to lose. Better keep your finger
on the "eject" button...

m A FREE GOPf OF JET STRIKE!

It's quite simple really, and if you're
truly interested in flight games, you will
probably know the answer to this ques-
tion (or at least know where to find it):

WHAT TYPE OF AIRCRAFT LHP

THE CANADIAN AIR FORCE

USE IN DESERT STORM?

Send the answer with vour name and
address to: Jet Strike Contest, c/o
Amiga Game Zone, 103 W. California,
Urbana, IL 61801. One lucky winner
will he drawn at random from all correct
entries received before July 1, 1994.

Once loaded, you can choose among
training, practice, combat, and aerolympics.
The training option lets you select any often
missions which allow you to work on
specific aspects of flying (night flying, land-
ing, dogfighring, bombing, etc.). Practice
lets you run through ten training scenarios
which are set up much like the full missions.
The main portion of the game, combat,
consists of 100 missions.

"Half of the fun in the game is the ability to
choose your active aircraft front a wide array of
jets, prop planes, and helicopters. You can even
pilot a flying boat or a dragon ('which, amus-

ingly, can run out of gas). All that are missin
are paper airplanes and a certain doghouse. "

Jet Strike will load on accelerated
Amigas, but is equally as playable on stan-
dard machines. Accelerator owners take
note, however: unless you have the reflexes
of a chipmunk on speed, select the fast
Amiga option in the game's options page.
This will slow the game down and add more
animation frames to make the game scroll
more smoothly.

Even though its odd control system
causes the dive/climb commands to be
reversed when you change direction
{Rasputin promises to fix this problem soon -
Ed), Jet Strike is a breeze to play. Not easy to
complete the missions on the first go, mind

you, but you don't have a lot of key
commands to keep straight. Just about
everything can be controlled from the
joystick. The only keyboard command that
you will have to use a lot is the space bar,
which activates your plane's ejection seat.
Trust me: the ejection seat is your friend.

Half of the fun in the game is the abil-
ity to choose your active aircraft from a wide
array of jets, prop planes, and helicopters.
You can even pilot a flying boat or a dragon
(which, amusingly, can run out of gas). All
that are missing are paper airplanes and a
certain doghouse. Of all the craft available, I
find myself using high-speed, agile attack
helicopters such as the Werewolf or Apache
time and time again. They're much easier to
control than the jets in the menu, and they
pack quite a wallop (and the Apache's
cannon sounds so cool).

Jet Strike is certainly a
game that will keep you
coming back for more (kind of
like a masochist scheduling
appointments with the
dentist). The early missions are
easy enough to make you cocky.
"Look at all the fun explosions
I can make," I said. "I think I'll
go make a crater-pocked
wasteland of that island over
there," I said. But something
happened when I wasn't looking, and before
I knew it, I was flying missions in which I
was the one who was doing the exploding.
And I kept trying on 'em again and again!

Only 80 more to go. Here's SPUDD in
yer eye, Rasputin. ■ DF

JET STRIKE

5EA5CAPE SOFTWARE ■ $44.95

VIDEO

NTSC

1.3/2.0/3.0

YES

HARD DRIVE PROTECTION

YES NONE

Combination
flight sim and
shoot 'em up
that strikes a
good balance.

COMBAT AIR PATROL

Combat Air Patrol, Psygnosis' first
attempt at a straight flight simula-
tor, is set in the Persian Gulf during
the Gulf War. You can play single missions
in an F-16 or F-18 against land or sea
targets. If you prefer the full campaign, you
can assign your pilot to a specific squadron
for the duration of his career. The full
campaign version also offers you the novel
option of directing ground forces and creat-
ing your own missions.

There seem to be two types of flight
simulators: one concentrates on realistic
flight and controls; the other is more
concerned with having fun, flying around,
and blowing things up. Older titles like
SubLogic's Flight Simulator II fall into the
former category, while game-like sims such
as F-18A Interceptor and Microprose's F-1S
II are typical of the latter. Combat Air
Patrol, without a doubt, falls into the second
category. Sure, it's loaded with little extras
like being able to shut down one engine in
case of a fire, but you don't have to worry

about being bogged down with details. Just
boot the game from floppy or hard drive,
punch up the instant flight option, and
you'll find yourself armed to the teeth in the
proverbial target-rich environment.

After you're comfortable with the
controls, you can go through the usual array
of training scenarios, ranging from mid-air
refueling to the much-dreaded nighttime
carrier landings. You are also offered a wide
range of combat practice runs over land and
sea, in which you can go with a default
weapons selection or pick your own instru-
ments of destruction.

Combat Air Patrol's graphics, however,
are what make it really stand out. This thing
is fast. Psygnosis' 1991 game Armour-
Geddon showed what could be done with a
traditional filled-polygon sim (a lot, for
those who haven't seen it), and the program-
mers put in another two years worth of work

information given isn't what the game's
protection system wants. As it turns out, the
tables you need are located on the chapter
heading pages... close to the binding... in
small, hard-to-read print. And there's even a
typo: the computer sometimes asks for
information on an "AIM" system - it should
be "AGM". Very stupid, guys.

The copy protection problems aren't
enough to bring this game down, though.
Once you figure out how it works, you won't

...the programmers put in another two years
worth of work to come up with Combat Ah
Patrol. It shows. On a standard Amiga, it's fast.
On an accelerated machine, WOW!

to come up with Combat Air Patrol. It
shows. On a standard Amiga, it's fast. On an
accelerated machine, WOW! There is a
"constant speed" option in the preferences
screen that generates more in-between
frames on accelerated machines to keep the
game from becoming uncontrollably fast.
The result is amazing.

I think the night missions are the high
points of the game. The palette the design-
ers chose makes everything look, um, dark.
Everything is in silhouette. The only ways to
visually identify ground targets are to use
your pylon cameras or to zero in on the areas
that have the most anti-aircraft cover. Waves
of tracer bullets show up quite well. And
there are so many of them.

The only complaint I have is with the
game's copy protection. After loading, the
game asks you to supply certain statistics for
a given plane or weapons system. The prob-
lem is, the manual doesn't tell you where to
find this information. There are schematics
scattered throughout the manual, but the

run into any problems. The graphics and
sound effects are first-rate, and the game-
play is fantastic. Hopefully, they'll make
some add-ons for arenas other than the
Persian Gulf. Variety is, of course, the spice
of mayhem. ■ DF

COMBAT AIR PATROL

PSYGNOSIS ■ £29.99 ($45)

VIDEO

1.3/2 4 0/3.0

PAL

YES

HARD DRIVE 1

protection!

YES

MANUAL

You'll find
yourself arme d
to the teeth in
a target-rich
environment.

I suppose there are two ways of looking at
this game. The first is for people who
have played Microprose's F-19 Stealth
Fighter, and the other is for those who
haven't. I'll start with the latter.

For those unfamiliar with F-19 (or any
other Microprose flight simulator, for that
matter), there is plenty to do in F-117A
Stealth Fighter 2.0. Once you create a pilot,
you decide where you want to fly, how real-
istically you want the plane to handle, and
how nasty you want your reception commit-
tees to be. This lets you set the overall diffi-
culty of your missions from "Cakewalk" to
"Hot Flaming Death".

STEALTH FIGHTER 2.0

Strike Eagle II, but it's still a little too easy

to take out enemy targets in F-117A

As with most Microprose games, you
will need to go through the tome that is
passed off as an instruction manual, mostly
to figure out which keys do what. Be ready
to keep track of a lot of keys.

Once airborne, the gameplay is pretty
straightforward: fly to your primary target
without getting blown out of the sky, fly to
your secondary target without getting blown
out of the sky, and make it back to base
without getting blown out of the sky. The
trick is, of course, to use your plane's stealth
capabilities properly. This is another area
that the manual spends a great deal of time
explaining - how pulse and doppler radar
work and what you can do to sneak past
them.

As it turns out, evading enemy radar is
the only real challenge in this game. Your
missies and bullets have an improbably
accurate hit-ratio in all but the highest of
difficulty levels. It isn't quite as silly as
Microprose's earlier shoot 'em-up, F-15

And now, for those of you who have
played F-19 Stealth Fighter, I can honestly
say that the two are very similar. The major
difference is that all of your missions are at
night in Stealth Fighter 2.0. Also, the
target-bearing indicator in the camera
display is conspicuously missing in the
sequel, making it a real pain to locate
targets. The manuals are practically identi-
cal, right down to the equipment-ID copy
protection. The keyboard commands are the
same, and there haven't been any improve-
ments in the blocky 3D models. It's like
seeing a sky full of Saabs.

All in all, there isn't anything that
makes this game stand out. The graphics are
okay, the gameplay is okay, and the sound is
okay - but there's nothing that would make
anyone want to rush out and buy it. ■ DF

F-1I7A NIGHTHAWK

MICROPROSE ■

£34.99 ($50)

VIDEO |

1.3/2.0/3.0

| NTSC

YES

1 HARD DRIVE

PROTECTION

YES

MANUAL

Evading
enemy radar is
the only chal-
lenge in this
game.

ISHAR 2 AGA

While movie sequels usually aren't
better than the original, the
opposite seems to be true of
many computer games, including Ishar 2.
{Many people mistakenly call this game Ishtar
2. Now there's a movie sequel I couldn't handle,
let alone a game based on it. - Ed. ) This AGA
role playing game picks up where its prede-
cessor left off. After the fortress Ishar was
freed from the evil Krogh, it became pros-
perous under new leadership. But now in
Ishar 2, a new evil threatens the kingdom.

The real improvements are not in the
plot, but in the game mechanics. Many of
the icon controls have been rearranged or
redesigned for greater efficiency, particularly
the fighting icons which are now grouped
together. The interface is one of the slickest
I've seen. Furthermore, Ishar 2 is three
times larger and features a day/night cycle.
Saves no longer cost any money. And, yes,
there's finally a useful online map to prevent
the frustration of getting lost.

Fortunately, all of Ishar 's great features
are still present in Ishar 2. Most notably,
members of your modifiable party have
their own personalities, unlike the mindless
puppets of many RPGs. The graphics are
beautiful, although they don't take full
advantage of AGA. The only downside is
that it's sometimes difficult figuring out
what your next move should be. Really good
stuff. ■ HV

ISHAR 2 AGA

DAZE ■ £29.99 ($45)

VIDEO

NTSC

1.3/2.0/3.0

3.0 ONLY

HARD DRIVE PROTECTION

YES(KEYDISK)| NONE

Lush graphics
populate this
better than
average role
playing game.

'I 4

Grab your sense of humor and take a
little trip with Simon in a graphic
adventure that is one of the newer
ports from the IBM-compatible world. Be
sure to bring at least one keen eye, your
funny bone, and a little patience.

The first thing you notice about this
game is that it is huge. I was truly stunned by
the size of it all. Both the standard and
AGA versions each come packed on 9
compressed disks. Too bad this results in a
lot of time listening to the floppy drive spin.
Thank goodness it is hard drive installable,
and a hard drive is strongly recommended.
Fully installed, the game takes up about
8MB. The game will run off floppy if you
like, but I pity anyone who tries it.

Simon the Sorcerer is fairly entertain-
ing with its humorous animations and many
activities to complete. The main goal is to
rescue Calypso the High Grand Wizard by
defeating the evil Sordid. During the adven-
ture, Simon encounters everything from
woodworms to a pair of valley demons.
Problems are usually solved with a little wit
and creativity. The animations of Simon,
including everything from his facial expres-
sions to his being spit naked out of a frog,
are sure to bring a smile to everyone's face. It
would appear that developers of the game
had humor as their top priority.
Unfortunately, this does not equal a terrific
game. The graphics are well drawn and the
attention to detail is appreciated, but Simon
the Sorcerer is only skin deep. While there
are plenty of background or mood music
pieces to spice it up, they get boring after
awhile. Sound effects are missing from

the game, and in my opinion, this omission
is an unforgivable oversight as there are
supposed to be sound effects on "some
versions" and the Amiga is a more than
capable candidate. The game's playability is
good, as the interface and movement are
easily understood. At the bottom of the
screen there is a list of action words that the
player utilizes in order to interact with the
other characters and objects in the game.
Next to the list is a scrolling display of all the
objects that are being held by Simon. One of
Simon's most useful possessions is a map
that shows the places he has been. It will
take him to any of these spots when the
player clicks on the desired location. A post-
card is used for the save, load, and quit
options.

Simon the Sorcerer held my interest
only on the level of "I want to finish the
game." All a player has to do is collect every-
thing and use it somewhere else. There are
no outstanding puzzles other than searching
for objects. I took much longer to finish the
game than I should have because I could not
find objects on the screen. In some cases the
pointer must be exactly on an object, and if
the mouse is moving too quickly - well,
tough luck. (The AGA version has a much
richer color palette, making the objects easier to

SIMON THE SORCERER

ADVENTURESOFT ■ £34.99 (550)

VIDEO | |

1.3/2.0/3.0

PAL

1 HARD DRIVE 1 ]

PROTECTION [

YES

MANUAL

There are too
many better
adventures out
there to make
this one special.

see. - Ed) Simon is led through all the
conversations, so there's no challenge here
either. In one case a response is, "I don't
know, I hoped something would appear."
While humorous, there is no real threat here
because any response the character chooses

will be accepted. There is no element ot
danger, and you can count on not being able
to screw up. All in all, I would like to have
been kept on my toes. Even at the end,
where I expected the greatest challenge of
all, Simon got lucky and disposed of his
nemesis too easily, and that was it. Big deal!
The game is supposed to be an adventure,
not a walk through.

In my opinion, Simon the Sorcerer is a
step back in the graphic adventure scene.
Get it if you must have this type of adven-
ture game, but if you want a "destined to
become a classic," keep looking. ■ MP

SIMON THE SORCERER AGA

ADVENTURESOFT ■ £39.99 ($60)

1 VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0

PAL

3.0 ONLY

HARD DRIVE

| PROTECTION

YES

MANUAL

256 colors
make objects
easier to see,
cutting down
on click-itis.

inf *Mn\

%3f

DISPOSABLE HERO

The year is 2867. After a large
scale galactic war, technol-
ogy has reverted to that of
the 20th century. Obviously, some-
body needs to do something about
this situation. That somebody is you
- go out and kick alien butt.

Bad introductions aside,
Disposable Hero is a standard hori-
zontal shoot 'em-up. You must
navigate and blast your way through
five levels of various alien nasties.
As with many shooters, this game
requires you to earn power-ups as
you progress in order to stay alive
and defeat the huge boss alien at the
end of each level.

You start out in a ship equipped with
only a single front pulse laser. As you
continue your quest for carnage, blueprints
can be picked up that lead to the develop-
ment of new weapons and ship enhance-
ments. Factories appear intermittently along
the bottom of the screen which allow you to
place the newly developed enhancements on
your ship. Stopping at these factories also

gives the player a chance to catch his breath
and rest a bit.

The number of enhancements that can
be placed on your ship is limited by the
ship's engine power at the time, as most
enhancements also draw power from the
ship's engine. Not all enhancements are
weapons. More powerful engines, shields,
and thrusters are among the non-destructive
items that can be added to your ship. The
range of weapons is the
best part of the game, as
there are quite a few
combinations that can be
effective against the
baddies. Weapons include
various multiple direction
lasers, homing missiles,
bombs, sonic disrupters,
spray missiles, heavy
cannons, etc. Some of the
weapons can be added to
the ship several times in
different areas of the
vessel.

In addition to the myriad of
weapons that can be added, a
second type of ship is made avail-
able later in the game. Some
enhancements can be placed on
only one of the two types of ships,
so it can be hard to decide which
weapon combinations work best
for each ship.

Another nice feature of the
game is the variable difficulty
evel. As the difficulty level
increases, aliens are harder to kill
and there are more of them. More
than once I was surprised by a new
wave of aliens that wasn't on the
previous difficulty setting. This made each
difficulty level harder than just battling
tougher aliens.

Disposable Hero is a well done shoot
'em-up with catchy music and smoothly-
animated graphics - a good addition to
anyone's game collection. ■ JL

DISPOSABLE HERO

GREMLIN ■

£25,99 ($40)

VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0

NTSC

YES

HARD DRIVE

| PROTECTION

| DISKS CODEWHEEL |

An R-Type
clone for the
1990's.

(#%,

CHAOS ENGINE AGA

If all the games we reviewed were as
addictive as The Chaos Engine, you
wouldn't be reading this magazine. You
see, we've spent an incredible amount of
time "play testing" this game to which we
can devote only third of a page for its review.

The game is just an update from the origi-
nal Amiga version, but it really deserves
high praise.

Colors and detail on all the characters
have been enhanced for AGA owners, but
the real treat is the artificial intelligence of
the computer player. While you can play
with two human players, it is just as fun to
play with the computer since he makes
smarter decisions and isn't quite as greedy!
He'll cover your back or cut a path for you
through heavy enemy resistance.

The only flaw to this otherwise perfect
game is the lack of a hard drive install
option. We know we'll be "play testing" The
Chaos Engine for a long time. ■ GM

1AOS ENGINE AGA

RENEGADE ■ £25.99 ($40)

VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0

PAL ■ 3.0 ONLY

HARD DRIVE PROTECTION

NO DISK-BASED

Killer graphics,
sound, and
placability -
it's definitely
time for chaos.

it!

When I was given the task of
reviewing Fury of the Furries by
Ed (oh, you know Ed... he's the
guy who always puts "- Ed" after wisecracks
in game reviews), I was under the impres-
sion that in lieu of an intro for the game, I'd
have to endure the entire membership of the
NKOTB Fan Club chanting "Fury of the
Furries" over and over and over, until I
morphed into one of the little day-glo
furballs. Thankfully, this ugly incident never
happened. Phew! I still hate the title, even
without the Freudian armageddon. (We don't
have a due as to what Robert's talking about,
folks. - wisecracking Ed) It's a name only a
mother could love (and only the mother of a
Furry). This brings up another point - sure,
they're furry and furrious... er, furious. But
genetically they're just Tinies. And as you
might suspect, you take control one Tiny at
a time and guide them collectively on a
world-saving mission. Just like in real life,
eh?

OF THE
FURRIES

shots... not un-Lemming-like, don'tcha
think? Well, think again! These cats have a
real task at hand! In a nutshell, our fluffy,
freaky friends from the planet Sklumph
must find and rescue their king who has
been abducted by a different gaggle of
Tinies. Evil ones. Right. As fate would have
it, you are pitted against these Tinies gone
bad in an effort to restore this world to silli-
ness. Ironic, isn't it?

Oh, those sweet, loveable, 3-toed
beasties that look like a cross between Cool
Spot and the Beatles. Just look at the screen-

This is a job that will require more
skills than a mere single Tiny possesses. To
accomplish various tasks, FOTF offers four
different Tiny types (shades of Lemmings)
located at the bottom of the screen on the
status panel. Pulling down on the joystick
transforms the Tiny into a different type, a
concept seen previously in games like
Morph, and most recently, Donk! Since they
are color-coded Furries, this process is quite
easy to do.

The attributes assigned to each "furry"
are thus: the yellow Tiny is able to fire off
rounds of fireballs, the red Tiny gobbles his
way through platforms, the blue Tiny is able
to swim underwater, and the green Tiny

(everyone's favorite) is able to shoot a rope
to the upper scenery and do his best impres-
sion ofTarzan / Spiderman / George of the
Jungle (take your pick). To expand on our
green guy a bit, I'd like to say that the
control system for this aspect of play was
done with sheer brilliance on the part of the
programming team. The Amazing
Spiderman offered nothing this slick, nor
did Batman - The Movie, although the
latter game was on the right track. What
makes this move truly unique is the ability
to skip-jump across particularly nasty
ground. Let's face it, he's a fun character! As
the game progresses, you'll need to be more
prepared for your furry-swapping since
things get quite a bit trickier. This is not a
bad thing, for it is this quality that makes
the game challenging.

The characters' animation is really a joy
to watch, and the game is loaded with
atmosphere. The look and feel of the entire
game is enchanting and is further enhanced
by the warm jazz soundtrack. The boister-
ous, cartoony sound effects complement the
music score.

Other little details offered by the game
are a PAL/NTSC toggle, auto game save
and replay, and even an amusing manual
look-up screen. Finally, being able to skip
the intro presentation from disk one and
boot straight into the second disk is a prac-
tice I wish was more prevalent, since it's
truly a waste of time to wade through that
every time. The remaining four disks pack
enough gameplay to keep you buzzing for a
long, long time. ■ RV

BURNING RUBBER

There are lots of arcade racing games
out there (Jaguar XJ220, Lotus 3,
Crazy Cars 3, etc.) The basic
premise is to win the race, earn more money
or points, buy cool stuff for your car, and
then continue on to the next level. Burning
Rubber is exactly that and really nothing
more. The concept is that you are in a series
of international road races, and your goal is
to get the most points by winning each race
and, ultimately, the championship. You pick
your car from a wide selection of European
models, choose automatic or manual trans-
mission, and then select the difficulty level.
You can make improvements to your car in
the speed shop, as well as fix any damage
you receive during the races. There are 12
courses on which to race, and each is in a
different country (in Europe) or city (in the
U.S.). Each course becomes more difficult
with the addition of increased police patrols,

BURNING RUBBER

inclement weather conditions, sharper
turns, and even pedestrians (Pow! Ten points
for a road kill! - Ed). You plan your route as
in F40 Pursuit Simulator, but if you are on
easy or medium difficulty, flashing arrows
will appear to tell you when to turn. Be
warned that you really have to go slow to
turn onto another road.

You can load the intro disk (a fancy
Euro demo), or you can just boot from the
main disk. The game does have cool music.
For AGA machines, there are some minor
enhancements, including the option to have
music playing instead of sound effects. I
personally think that the graphics could
have been better on both versions.

In summary, there were times while
playing this game that I thought to myself,
"Haven't I played this game before?" There
is nothing wrong with Burning Rubber, but
it just doesn't offer anything new. ■ RH

BURNING RUBBER AGA

OCEAN ■ £25.99 (S40)

VIDEO 1.3/2.0/3.0 1

PAL YES

HARD DRIVE | | PROTECTION

NO | DISK-BASED

Did you ever
smell burning
rubber? Well...

D/GENERATION

Some three decades into the future, a
secret genetic engineering project at
Genoq Biolabs in Singapore has gone
awry. It seems that an artificial organism
named D/Generation has taken over the
building, trapping the occupants inside.
You, a hapless courier delivering a package
to the scientist Derrida, must rescue the
employees while finding a way to destroy
D/Generation before it escapes to the
outside world.

Gameplay amounts to getting through
120 rooms on the upper ten floors of the
building while dealing with its killer (liter-
ally) security system and solving some
simple puzzles. Talking to various people
and using the computer terminals help in
developing the storyline.

When I first loaded up this isometric
action adventure, I almost thought I was
having a Nintendo flashback. Regardless of
the AGA enhancement claim on the box,
the graphics are decidedly 8-bittish.
However, the animation and sound effects
(mostly consisting of laser blasts and explo-
sions) are adequate. Despite poor graphics
and a disappointing ending, this game is fun
and playable. Its addictive quality kept me
hooked for hours. ■ HV

WHEN TWO WORLDS WAR

When Two Worlds War is set in
the year 2121. War is no longer
conducted on battlefields.
Instead, military strategists are put in
control of a simulator with which bloodless
victory is decided. You are one of the strate-
gists and may choose to play the computer
or a human enemy. You and your enemy take
control of your respective worlds, and more
specifically, the military logistics which will
orchestrate your triumph (or defeat).

You are in command of several facili-
ties: labs (used for research to develop more
sophisticated weaponry), mines (needed to
build equipment), power plants (needed
during the equipment building process), and
farms (needed to support each military unit,
or MU, you create). These features deter-
mine your world's military capability.

The game revolves around develop-
ment of your MUs. These military units
come in four varieties: land, sea, air, and
space. All the parameters of your MUs,
including the level of sophistication of their
engines, the quality of their armor, the range
and power of their missies, etc. are based on
the level of technology you are able to
achieve. While building MUs you may gain
a new technology that might give you an

edge or at least make you even with the
enemy. So, at any point you can discontinue
production of technologically inferior units
and concentrate on production of the more
advanced units.

MUs battle in all of the conventional
arenas: on land, in the air, and at sea. Missle-
carrying satellites and starfighters under
your command can operate in both your
world or your opponent's world. The space
between the worlds eventually becomes
another battlefield, even though the surface
of the planets is where most of the action
occurs. Transport ships are a great help in
such situations as they are able to carry MUs
anywhere.

All operations are facilitated using a
series of "windows". Some windows perform
simple functions like viewing the two
worlds. Others, such as the one used for
mission input, involve much more compli-
cated procedures.

Some screens have cool graphics, but
generally speaking, the graphics in W2WW
aren't anything special, just clean. Most
strategy game lovers would forego stunning
graphics for great play anyway. Ah, but
therein lies the rub. W2WW is such a mixed
bag ofengaging strategy and mundane oper-
ations. For instance, building facilities is an
important aspect of the game, but there isn't
a whole lot of strategy involved in building
labs, mines, etc. However, if you spend too
much time building facilities, you're likely to
have enemy MUs blowing the bejeezus out
of your bases. And, if you ignore technolog-
ical advancements, your MUs will be like
pens without ink, unable to make a mark on

the enemy. It also seems that land, air, and
sea MUs are virtually unnecessary. Enemy
bases are the only target of consequence, and
technologically advanced starfighters can
handle the whole job of destroying them.

W2WW's biggest drawback is that
much more effort is expended in preparation
for battle rather than during the actual
battles themselves. There are some good
ideas to be found here, but W2WW tends to
divert the player away from war and strategy
with too many operations that aren't impor-
tant enough for the time they consume. The
second game I played lasted about 10 hours,
of which the last four seemed painfully long.

If you like building worlds, my sugges-
tion is that you stay with Sim City or Sim
Ant. If you prefer war games, the strategy of
battle is far more focused in Perfect General
or Harpoon. W2WW is not a bad game to
own, just surprisingly limited when consid-
ering the intricate, ongoing setup necessary
to play it. ■ RM

Editor's note: Impressions has included both the
standard and AGA versions of When Two
Worlds War in the same box. Great idea! If you
upgrade to an AGA machine you won't have to
buy an additional AGA version of the software.

WHEN TWO WORLDS WAR

IMPRESSIONS

£34.99 <S50)

VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0

| NTSC

YES

1 HARD DRIVE

PROTECTION

| YES

NONE |

A mixed bag
ofengaging
strategy and
mundane
operations.

iam mRi

SEEK & DESTROY

Seek &C Destroy from Mindscape is a
smooth helicopter arcade game
supplied on four copy-protected
disks. You look straight down on the action
from an overhead perspective as you fly
about the landscape shooting at anything
that presents itself. Depending on the
mission, targets can include tanks, ground
soldiers, or other helicopters. Your weapons
are guided and unguided air-to-air and air-
to-ground missiles, a machine gun with an
unlimited ammo supply, and napalm. You
can also call in an air strike for those really
hardened ground targets.

You choose to
control your Apache
chopper with either
the mouse or a
joystick. Weapons
are selected via the
function keys, and
the spacebar will
bring up a large
scale map of the
battlefield. This is
handy since the

ever-present short range scanner at the
bottom of the screen covers only a small
area. AJso shown on screen are a fuel gauge,
the number of remaining choppers, your
score, and a graph showing shield strength.
Shield strength? What is this, the Starship
Apache? The shields, of course, protect you
from damage up to a point, and can be
recharged by finding a shield icon. Shield
icons and fuel icons are sometimes revealed
when you destroy an enemy building.

Seek & Destroy has some nice touches.
I liked the radio voice at the end - after
trying unsuccessfully to contact your
downed chopper, it reports "There's no
response, sir."

Perhaps I've been spoiled by another
recent helicopter arcade game, but I felt a bit
let down by Seek & Destroy. Being forced to
wait through the entire loading sequence
after losing your last chopper is a real
bummer (hard drive installability would
have prevented this annoyance). Still, this
arcade game has smoothly animated graph-
ics and certainly enough action to keep the
old joystick sweaty for a few hours. ■ RH

QjT^JT^jV*-j ^"W^^y^iV Yk V-

a rAn i ^ / \

m %

It is probably safe to assume that the kind
folks at Alternative Software are glut-
tons for punishment. They are responsi-
ble for the latest game you'll love to hate
called Suburban Commando. An arresting
title, for sure, but if it sounds somewhat
familiar, it's time for the shrink in me to
bring to the surface the thoughts that have
been buried deep in the inner recesses of
your mind. I admit that it's true - I tried to
bury any recollections linked to that name as
well. If I had to be reminded of it, then you
too must suffer.

It's that Hulk Hogan thing. That
miserable, dismal attempt at action and
comedy. Suburban Commando was as much
a stinker at the cinema as it is on the
Amiga. Not that I ever had any doubt that
this was gonna be the verdict, but there's
always the outside chance that a Body Blows
will surface (yeah, right) or a Zool (oh,
puuhleeze!) or even a WWF Wrestlemania
(bingo!).

The space section is played out in the
first sub-level and is a horizontally scrolling
shoot 'em-up that is merely unimpressive.
It's a wannabe R-Type, yet the only successful
steal I could find was the difficulty curve.
This may be fine for frustration enthusiasts,
but it left me in a bad mood. At any rate, it
sets the stage for the "crash-to-Earth" story-
line, with the remaining handful of levels
reserved for the usual platform shenanigans.

The graphics make a go of looking like
a console game, but the game itself is simply
flawed. Hulk looks absolutely ridiculous
with his big head and Peter Max mustache
that is as cornball as it is kitsch. If this is
high camp, then I'm gonna go buy some old
Jerry Vale albums for entertainment during
the few moments I can tear myself away
from this cult classic (oh, brother!).

Suburban Commando is such a stupid
idea for a license in the first place - a dud
film that bombed at the box office (and
subsequently on home video) begets a dud

game that... Even as a budget game, this is
still tired stuff. But guess what - it's NOT a
budget game!

Hulk Hogan seems like a likeable guy,
but let's leave him in his deodorant commer-
cials and out of video games. To date, I have
seen Hulk licensed out to three games
(WWF Wrestlemania, WWF 2, and now
this), and while this is the best of the three,
that's like picking the best looking of The
Three Stooges. So help me, if they make a
game out of Mr. Nanny, I'm gonna find a
new career'. ■ RV

SUBURBAN COMMANDO

ALTERNATIVE

■

£24.99 ($40)

1 VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0

NTSC

YES

1 HARD DRIVE

PROTECTION 1

DISK-BASED |

This one's as
good as the
movie - and
that's not a
complement.

Yiip! He's dumb lookin'. Good ol' boy,
though. But dumb lookin' as they git.
Born an' raised deep in the heart of
America's southland, Bubba knows a thing
or two about survival. He's a truck drivin'
man on a mission. An' what better tool for a
country bumpkin on a mission than... a
stickl Yuck, yuck, yuck! I'm serious, y'all!
Dangitall, this ain't no normal stick! It's
magical an' can do thangs y'all wouldn't
believe! No redneck in his rat mind would
try to make his way back to Earth wit'out
one. Back to Earth?!?! Yup! Been kidnapped
by them thar alien E.T.s and gotta git back
to Earth b'fore the li'l green guy finds ol'
Bubba. Since Stix is an alien too, this might
be poss'ble. It's true,
dag-nabbit!

Phew, I'm glad
that paragraph is
over! Not since
Moonshine Racers
has the screen been
so illustriously

blessed with stereo-
typed representations
of Southerners!

Where are all the activists screaming
"Politically incorrect!" when you need them?
At first glance, Bubba 'N' Stix appears
to be just another platformer with highly
comic overtones. You are Bubba, zapping
oncoming enemies by whopping them in the
head with Stbc. But you soon realize that you
have some major puzzle solving to do if
you're going to avoid running smack dab
into seemingly unobtrusive trees and moun-
tain walls. Arcade fans may be disappointed
when they discover that to succeed in this
game will require a peripheral known as the
brain. In all honesty, I too was annoyed at
the fact that I had to think in order to
continue with the game. But upon realizing

the wealth of animation used for the Bubba
sprite alone (a staggering 170 frames!), I
knew the puzzles were gonna have to be
solved one way or another - I simply could-
n't miss out on this gorgeously constructed
piece of software.

The puzzles look simple, but they are
anything but easy. The key to keep in mind
when attempting these workarounds is that
Stbc is a very multi-talented kinda guy,
particularly when compared to his feeble-
brained companion (which could be you or
Bubba, depending on how you want to look
at it). Keep an open mind when it comes to
Stix's capabilities. He is a very slick stick and
can double as a balancing tightrope pole,

Arcade fans may be disappointed when
they discover that to succeed in this
game will require a peripheral known
as the brain.

ladder, pool cue, javelin, or snorkel (to name
just a few things).

Once you grow accustomed to the
nature of the puzzles, the game should
become easier. NOT! Just when you become
comfortable with the controls and complex-
ities, the puzzles get tougher with an
increasing number of obstacles and enemies.
Thankfully, bonus levels provide some comic
relief or you might be driven to the
temporarily satisfying (but ultimately
embarrasing) act of monitor destruction.

Should you have the skill to get to the
part of the game where Glik (he's the alien
who kidnapped you in the first place)
returns to claim his victim (that's you, of
course), get ready for some huge guffaws.
Glik's not the smartest extra-terrestrial in
the universe, you see, and outwitting him
provides the game with slapstick sequences
that counter the frustrating trial and error
methods you must use to defeat his alien-
ness.

If the scenario appears too limited for
you in the opening level (the alien forest),
some nice surprises are in store in the
concluding four levels. Loads upon loads of

enemies lie in wait ahead of you, and it is
really worth the work it takes to complete
the game. The graphics perfectly comple-
ment the gameplay with their cartoon qual-
ity and color slapdash. Amazingly, this
wealth of images and superb music comes
on a mere two disks! No shortcuts appear to
have been taken in the animation depart-
ment and this is the game's strongest point.
Bubba 'N'
Stix takes a fresh
approach to the plat-
form game genre, and
the result is long-last-
ing paydirt! A game
with only five levels
may not seem very
impressive, but I can
already tell I'll still be
playing this game
come this time next year. Unlike most plat-
formers, Bubba requires a lot of calculation
and thought. Rather than sticking with the
tried and true linear format of jumping,
running, stomping, power-upping, etc.-ing,
Core Design has managed to successfully
expand the game into several additional
areas that should extend its shelf life consid-
erably. ■ RV

CORE DESIGN ■ £25.99 ($40)

VIDEO

II'

1.3/2.0/3.0

PAL

YES

HARD DRIVE

PROTECTION

NONE

Not politically
correct, dag-
nabbit, but an
entertaining
platform puzzler.

DINOSAUR DETECTIVE AGENCY

Ahh, those adorable platformers are
still flowing in full force! After a
bank is robbed, Sherloch Ness (the
cute prehistoric sleuth that you control) is
called upon by the manager of the bank to
do what dinosaur detectives do best (er...
whatever, guys). Donning your spiffy outfit
(token plaid jacket and painfully English
cap) and grabbing your trusty ol' camera,
you're off on a trek across levels that appear
not unlike a console arcade game. Why the
camera? Elementary - you must snap a
picture of the suspect in. this most heinous
crime! There will be clues and bits of
evidence to gather along the way during
your journey. Jump right in - it's all really
very simple. But you'll have to be smarter
than the average Neanderthal in order to
maneuver your way through this and three
other baffling cases to which you have been
assigned.

Dinosaur Detective Agency is a truly
smashing affair - with just a few reserva-
tions. Let's look closely at the evidence.
Now where is that bloody magnifying glass?

Clue number one shows us an unimag-

inative inrro that, in the final analysis,
doesn't really matter after all. Who really
CARES about long, drawn-out primers that
drag the disk loads into a time warp? Short
and sweet... to the point, that's the ticket!

Our next bit of evidence, affectionately
referred to herein as clue number two, finds
us at the options screen. Hmmm... not much
to go on here either! Music toggle, sound
effects toggle... YES, a game that lets us
have both tunes and F/X! All right, it's not
that big of a deal. Oh, the rigors of hyping a
budget game.

Next on the agenda (I know, I know...
number three) is the gameplay itself. There
is a distinct cartoon look to the game that
gave me a rather comfortable feeling. None
of thejump-on-the-heads-of-bad-guys stuff
here. Your weapon is your camera, which
uses flashbulbs to blind the beasties you
encounter along the way. You'll see scattered
items throughout the levels that you'll obvi-
ously want to collect, such as gold coins,
flash bulbs, etc. Their uses are realized along
the way. You will need to ball up to sink into
the soggy earth or jump to return to upper
levels in some places. More confusing

puzzles are bestowed upon you in later
levels.

DDA appears to have been aimed at
younger players who are still mesmerized by
Barney and Jurassic Park. But even those
kids will be disappointed by both the fact
that you are only given one life and that you
must return to the beginning of the game
should you err. It's too bad such a frustrating
event occurs in an otherwise enjoyable
kiddie adventure. ■ RV

DINOSAUR DETECTIVE AGENCY

ALTERNATIVE ■ £16.99 ($25)

VIDEO 1.3/2.0/3.0

PAL | YES

HAjRD DRIVE PROTECTION |

NO | DISK-BASED |

A decent non- jtf&
violent game fJt \
for kids... only \S &
pictures are ffi^ j
shot here. ^S

OVERKILL, AN AG A-only shooter from Mindscape, uses the Defender model of gameplay.

It relies more on arcade skill than memorization of attack patterns. The action gradually

becomes more intense and the
graphics, while not earth-shatter-
ing, are decent. Probably the most
outstanding graphic details are the
excellent perspective warping and
extensive parallax scrolling in the
background. In a time when
shooters are few and far between,
Overkill is a welcome sight. ■ RB

OVERKILL AGA

MINDSCAPE ■ £19.99 ($30)

VIDEO 1.3/2.0/3.0

NTSC | 3.0 ONLY

| HARP DRIVE PROTECTION [

NO j DISK-BASED |

Defender clone
with nifty A
parallax if]
scrolling '3j
routines.

PIN BALL FANTASIES AGA

No matter which computer or
console system you own, you won't
find a smoother, more colorful, or
more playable pinball game than the
Amiga's own Pinball Fantasies (at least not
until the sequel, Pinball Illusions, is
released).

21st Century has recently released an
AGA-specific version of the game that
sports 256 color tables and optimized
scrolling. You'll spend hours and hours play-
ing Partyland, Billion Dollar Game Show,
Speed Devils, and Stones 'N' Bones. The
best feature of this update is that it is now
hard drive installable and NTSC compati-
ble!

If you own the original Amiga version
of Pinball Fantasies, then it probably isn't
worth buying this updated version - the
gameplay is almost identical. However, if
you own an AGA machine and have yet to
try the game, I urge you to pick it up. ■ GM

IBALL FANTASIES AG/

21ST CENTURY ■ £29.99 (S45)

VIDEO

1.3/2.0/3.0

NTSC | 3.0 ONLY

HARD DRIVE PROTECTION

YES MANUAL

Gorgeous
update of this
smooth and
highly playable
game.

WINTER OLYMPICS

I'll make no bones about it: I put Winter
Olympics at the bottom of my stack of
games to review for this month. I do
enjoy sports sims and grew up on the myriad
of track & field games from the glory days of
the C64 and Apple II. But let's face it, most
of those games suffered from the same prob-
lems: too much joystick waggling, too much
slow disk accessing, lousy control, and poor
implementation of physical events that must
be translated to a handheld control device.
(Yeesh! I volunteered to review this game?)

I®

However, after actually playing it, I
must personally tip my hat to U.S. Gold for
sanitizing the genre with this superb 3 disk
sports simulation. Now I can cancel my trip
to the freezing Norwegian shores, nestle up
to my Amiga, and become a part of the
action. Okay, so I have a fertile imagination.

You can opt for full Olympics, mini
Olympics or practice. I strongly recommend
practice rounds before jumping into the
icebox. This will help you adjust to the vary-
ing control methods that each event uses.
Practice options also offer time trials, elimi-
nation, and pursuit modes. When compet-
ing in the Olympic modes, you are offered a
choice of club, national and Olympic (for
the purists, I suppose). There are a total of
14 disciplines which comprise the 6
Olympic events, so you can rest assured that
there is plenty to do.

The presentation is flawless with

delightful segue pages displayed during load
times. Although some minor disk swapping
is necessary, I was never bothered by it.
Another nice bonus is support for 1-4 play-
ers. The graphics are irresistable and make
the game that much more enjoyable to play.

The Olympic events available include
skiing, bobsled, luge, ski jumping, short
track speed skiing, and biathlon. Don't
despair over the indulgence in skiing events;
each really holds its own charm. Downhill
skiing is especially exciting, particularly
when compared to previous torturous
implementations of the sport. The omission
of skating events is offset by the inclusion of
bobsledding, which became a cult item last
year with the release of Disney's splendid
sleeper hit Cool Runnings. Anyone who saw
that film will want to have a go at manning
his own missile-shaped sleigh. Joystick
waggling is used to get your running take-
off under way, followed by simple clicks of
the fire button to load the sled with the
racers. From that point, it's all control of the
curves in the track that lies ahead.
Competence will surely require much prac-
tice, but it's never really tedious.

Another favorite event is the 120 meter
ski jump. Again, a bit of waggling gets you
going and increases your speed. After
making the jump, watch your shadow near-
ing the snow below to time your landing
move. It didn't take much time before I
became quite good at this.

An event with which you may not be as
familiar (I wasn't) is the biathlon, involving
both skiing and shooting. After the obliga-
tory waggling sequence, you are presented
with a magnified circle hovering over distant
targets. You must hit key areas within each
target. This sequence, as well as all others, is
explained sufficiently in the manual to allow
you to be an effective competitor. (You may
want to keep the manual handy for reference

when getting started in the game.)

The in-house programming team at
U.S. Gold has warmed my heart with this
slick new release. It's a package that is
loaded with the needed elements of addic-
tiveness and ease-of-use that will keep me in
cool company for months to come. The cost
is a bit pricey, but you can feel secure know-
ing that it's packed to the brim with quality
gaming (not to mention being cheaper than
the real thing). ■ RV

ON THE OTHER HAND...

We feel this game deserves two letter grades
lower than it received. When you combine six
mediocre games, it doesn't result in one good one.

CHEATS & TIPS

ALIEN BREED 2 level codes JURASSIC PARK level codes

Level 2 353828

Level 3 108383

Level 4 370101

LevelS 982822

Level 6 847464

Level 7 737373

Level 8 928112

Level 9 267364

Level 10 193831

Level 11 090921

Level 12 309383

Level 13 101221

Level 14 103992

Level IS 998112

Level 16 125332

Level 17 091233

ALIEN BREED 2 cheat

10 Lives 000000

50 Keys 378829

50,000 Credits 736363

BOB S BAD DAY level codes

Level 10 XCKCKXPE

Level 20 VDPEFWNG

Level 30 SEAGGUPH

Level 40 QEAIIVNJ

Level 50 NDPKKWPL

Lelel60 LFFMLUNM

Level 70 IDPONWPO

Level 80 GFFQPUNQ.

Level 90 DEASQVPR

Level 100 BEAUSVNT

CANNON FODDER cheat

Type JOOLS when saving a
game to access the cheat mode.

DISPOSABLE HERO cheat

Type the word EUPHORIA
while pressing the left mouse
button on the high score screen.

DONK! cheat

Type ABLE TO CHEAT when
the screen turns red. Then use
F1-F4 keys for povver-ups.

STANDARD VERSION

8EB75C3

Level 3

DE5FB8C5

Level 4

EEE7740D

Level 5

BEB75C25

Level 6

AEA7542D

Level 7

BEA7542D

Level 8

CE5FB0C5

Level 9

FE6FA8DD

Level 10

EE77780D

Level 11

9E074035

AGA VERSION

Level 2

B5A48352

Level 3

E54C67AA

Level 4

D5F4AB62

Level 5

95B48B42

Level 6

85A4834A

Level 7

85B48B42

Level 8

F54C6FAA

Level 9

C57C77B2

Level 10

D56C7FBA

Level 11

A5149F5A

HIRED GUNS cheat

Type AMIGA during play for
infinite energy and ammo.

MORTAL KOMBAT cheat

Type in Wombat or Vampire in
the intro sequence when Goro
appears. (This cheat only works
on early versions of the game.)

SETTLERS level codes

Level 1 START

Level 2 STATION

Level 3 UNITY

Level 4 WAVE

Level5 EXPORT

Level 6 OPTION

Level 7 RECORD

Level 8 SCALE

Level 9 SIGN

Level 10 ACRON

Level 11 CHOPPER

Level 12 GATE

Level 13 ISLAND

Level 14 LEGION

AMIGA ACTION REPLAY CARTRIDGE

rtmty*

A500 589 ppd. - A2000 $99 ppd.

These useful cartridges atlo-w you to acquire infi-
nite lives in nearly every game, slow games down,
grab graphics and Smmdlracker modules, copy

J^| ^^^^H

compatible but tuottriuork with most accelerators,
Sendyottr order to /IC7. or call its far more info.

Level 15 PIECE

Level 16 PASSIVE

Level 17 RIVAL

Level 18 SAVAGE

Level 19 XAVER

Level 20 BLADE

Level 21 BEACON

Level 22 PASTURE

Level 23 OMNUS

Level 24 TRIBUTE

Level 25 FOUNTAIN

Level 26 CHUDE

Level 27 TRAILER

Level 28 CANYON

Level 29 REPRESS

Level 30 YOKI

STARDUST level codes

Level 2 ....BGSUAAAAAIOM
Level 3....CDSSUAAAAMGL
Level 4 ....DLSUVQATALMK
Level 5 ELSUVXRRAJLL

THEATRE OF DEATH cheat

Type SHED SOFTWARE as a
password for unlimited ammo.

WONDERDOG level codes

Level 2 LEMONADE

Level 3 PHARMACY

Level 4 ULTIMATE

Level 5 DANIELLE

Level 6 LUCOZASE

ZOOL 2 level codes

Level 2 SESAME

Level 3 RONSON

Level 4 FUNKYTUT

Level 5 HISSTERIA

Level 6 7SLURP

Level7 PLUNGER

ZOOL 2 cheat

Type these on the title screen or
options screen, and the screen
flashes. Hit return to skip levels.

Skip levels BUMBLEBEE

99 items ALCENTO

20 lives VISION

Infinite bombs KICKASS

Infinite time OLD ENEMY

Infinite energy ..TOUGHGUY

Games Too Expensive?

Consider Pre-owned Software

Save big $$$ over new

Original disks & manuals

AMIGA - IBM - C64

Hard-to-find classics plus

many recent titles

We also carry all the latest

new releases - domestic

and imports

Call for free catalog

gars 0ottQ5 Software

940 4th Ave Suite 222 Huntington WV 25701 10-8 M - fh 1 0-5 F & Sat

Orders only call:

1-800-638-1123

AH other business: 304-529-0461
BBS for complete list: 304-529-7050
FAX: 304-529-0957

We Accept:

EH-I

VISA

n
:rj

This month, I have searched high and low for the PD/Shareware
Amiga games that I think warrant mention. While not all of them may
be exactly new... I think they are some of the best picks as of late. If you
can't find these on your local BBS or on the Internet, don't hesitate to
support mail order shareware companies.

ASTERIODS II 0.92

What do you get when you
combine Asteroids, Sinistar,
Mine Storm, and just about any
decent Asteroids derivative into
one game? Why, you get Mike
Seifert's Asteriods II, of course.
(Note the difference in spelling and pronunciation.

AGZ legal

NORTHWEST PUBLIC DOMAIN

/'CD Rom Bonanza!^

17Blt CD Collection vol. 1(2 ffi's) J39.95

NEW! 1 7Blt CD Collection voL 2 (1 CD) $19.95

17BJ1 CD Collections 1&2_oqJv_$54.95

Aminet CD IWalnut CreeK promised the new
one by Mid - March(UhHuh) 1994 -$15.95
DemoCD 1 (Games.Music.&Mods) $27.95
DemoCD 2 (Same as above. Newer ) $27.95
CDPD 2 (Fish 660 - 760, cllpart utils) $25.95
CDPD 3 (Fish 761-890.24 bit pix, etc) $27.95
FRESH FISH (FISH 650-950 ♦ More) $19.95
LIBERATION (Best CD32 Game) $36.95

Labyrinth of Time (Finally!) $34.95

ARABIAN NIGKTS (best platform) $24.95

MICROCOSMfCross your Hngers)$Call

Lock -N- Load

The ULTIMATE AMIGA PO / Shareware Games
Compilation!! How about 1,000 Games and
Commercial Game Demos? All runnable from Work-
Bench! Compatible with CD32 I CDTV, A570 and any
External Amiga CD-Rom Drive! How Much!?!

V ^ ONLY S22.49 (+S2.00S&H) J

SEND Sa.OO for CATALOG DISK & FUSR

WE CARRY THE FULL LINE OF 17 BIT DISKS, AS
WELL AS ANYTHING ELSE YOU MIGHT HAVE
SEEN OR HEARD ABOUT!!!
CLR LICENSEWARE- We carry the
full line of CLR LICENSEWARE!. ALL of 'em!
PRICES: 1 DISK TITLE - $5.50

2 DISK TITLE - $6.50

3 DISK TITLE- $7.50

(SHIPPING AND HANDLING FOR CLR LICENSEWARE
DISKS IS THE SAME AS FOR OUR REGULAR DISKSI)

II1VEW IJCClNSIiWAIUi!!

MAD FIGHTERS 1 20011 Great new 'Street
Fighters 2' game. 3Disks, PAL. - S9.Q0
Fl RACER - 'Indiannapolis500' type 3D
driving game. 1 Disk. PAL. -- S5.50
CRYSTAL SKULL - You as 'Indiana Smith'
must retrieve the fabled Crystal Skull, but
the Aztecs try to stop you. lDlsk,PAL,S5.50
VIKING SAGA - You must stop the invading

hordes ot the evil 'DoomDark' by uniting the
surrounding villages inlO days.lDisk.PAL.S5.50
KNIGHT FIGHT - Defedt the EVIL Nasties in
this 'Barbarian' type beat'em up.lDisk,S5.50
ARCHIPELAGOS CAMPAIGN - Conquer the
islands one by one.Like Risk. 1 Disk, PAL.S5.50
THE LOST PRINCE - Adventure game, which
appears to be done by the same team
which did StarBdse 13. 2Disks, PAL, S6.50
SPACE POWER - Up to i players can play in
this Gravity powered shooter. 1 Disk.PALS5.50
HAIRPIN 2 - Overhead racing In the Super-
Sprint mode. 1 Disk, PAL, S5.50
TEN PIN BOWLING - Well, its uh, bowling,
also includes Logicircuit. lDisk,PAL,S5.50
CYBALL 5 - Guide the bouncing boll through
the cove collecting stars. 1 Disk, PAL, S5.50

REMEMBER! ANY 10 ASSASSINS GAMES
DISKS FOR ONLY J 1 5.00 + $2.00 S*H[! (WE
now bavt up ttrougiASII 501 Call for frtt llstl

WV> GAME DISKS!

GAM 272 - MEGAB ALL 3 - All new with AGA
graphics support. Same great game .more colors
GAM 273 - MINE RUNNER - Awesome recre-
ation of the classic Lode Runner game!!
GAM 274 - Scorched Tanks 1.75 - Artillery
Classic! All new front end with more weapons!
GAM 275 - INCINERATOR - Killer new
version of Missile Comand. uses a whole
new perspective. ++ SHAREWARE++

NEWPK1CINCUU

F_oxl7 UrUJEP^ftMQlBi snrt ASSASSINS

Games D!sks_p_rMngJs npw as follows:

1-24 Disks - $2.00 Ea. 25-49 Disks - $1.50

Ea. 50* Disks - $1.00 Each! FRFD FISH

DISKS ARE NOW: 1-24 Disks - $1.50Ea.

25-49 Disks - $1.25 50* Disks - $1.00 Ea.

SHJJrSllCLSJiANELINGj

1-10 Dlsks-$2.00, 11-50 Dlsks-$4.00

51+ Disks $6.50 (SiH Prices for US,

CANADA and MEXICO.all other Foreign

countries add $0.25 per disk)

We accept Casb. Cbecks. and Money Orders

In US funds, as well as VISA/MC

P.O. Box 1617 - Auburn, WA 98071-1617 [2061351-9502

dept.) Not only does this game have all of the elements that made
the aforementioned titles good, it has its own unique flavor that
makes it distinct from the other hordes of Asteroids clones on the
scene.

Asteriods II actually gives you two different games, the origi-
nal Atari version of Asteroids and Seifert's own recipe for action,
Asteriods II. We all know how to play Asteroids, so let's concentrate
on Asteriods II. Let me tell you this, you've never seen firefights as
intense as the ones in this game.

Take the original game, throw in power-ups, enemy fighters,
motherships, and the classic vector graphics of the arcade original,
and you have Asteriods II. This game has some of the hottest action
around. It ranks right up there with most any commercial shooter
these days. The game looks simple at first, but you'll soon find out
it will keep you occupied for hours.

The game is also stuffed with options. It can be set for differ-
ent game speeds for different processors, and the level of play can be
boosted or lowered. There is even a two player mode - both players
can brave the universe as teammates, or they can fight as bitter
opponents while they also blast invading forces. Asteriods II
receives my highest recommendation.

MATRIX BLASTER 1.00

One of my all-time
favorite arcade games has to be
the 1982 classic Tron. It's a
little tough to find Tron these
days, not only because it's an
old game, but because a lot of arcade owners have converted the
cabinets to Two Tigers. However, many Tron enthusiasts have
ported the most famous of all the sub-games in the coin-op and
perhaps the film's most remembered scene (the light cycles) to vari-
ous computer formats.

The latest version for the Amiga is a team effort called Matrix
Blaster. This fine rendition of the arcade sequence was coded in
AMOS by Sami and Nadeen Cokar along with W. Jared Brookes
who also did the graphics for the game. It plays just like the arcade
and even has some nice samples taken directly from the movie.

Matrix Blaster is completely system friendly and provides
decent entertainment for short gaming sessions. While the concept
does wear thin... hey, it's a classic. Don't complain. Tron fans will
love this one.

AMIGA BOULDER DASH 1.909

Boulder Dash clones are a
staple in the Amiga shareware
arena. It seems almost every
day a new Boulder Dash clone
pops up from somewhere. One
of the better clones is Jeff Bevis' Amiga Boulder Dash.

Amiga Boulder Dash features not only the original game with
the levels and gameplay of the 8-bit classic, but a set of all new caves
and even a level editor for endless playability. All of this is topped
with sharp graphics true to the original game and a new, modern
version of the Boulder Dash theme song. This is the perfect combi-
nation of action and strategy - keep an eye out for it. ■

OIM TARCE

SEND YOUR LETTERS AND COMMENTS TO AMIGA GAME ZONE, 103 WEST CALIFORNIA, URBANA IL 61801

I THINK you need to cover less platform
games and more role playing games.

Brenton K. Mosser
Hagerstown, MD

In order to provide readers -with timely infor-
mation, we only review games that have been
recently released for the Amiga - so we're at the
mercy of the game publishers. Our first issue
was arcade-heavy because that's all that was
available at the time. In this issue we have a
better balance - we're hoping this continues.

This one's for you, Brian.

The year is 2127. Fantasy Island has returned
to television... this is Tattoo in full body armor.

REVIEW GAME related hardware...

Pedro Aguiar
Fall Rover, MA

INCLUDE INTERVIEWS in your mag...

Andre Phillippe Reavis
Walla Walla, WA

Next issue we'll have an in-depth interview
with Jaeger Software, and we're working on a
comprehensive joystick roundup as we speak!

ALL I can say is that it's about time. Every where I looked
computer stores were discontinuing Amiga products. And then, just
as suicidal thoughts were beginning to cross my mind, I decided to
pay a visit to my local computer store. That's when I saw it. Hidden
behind a stack of Compute was the very last issue of Amiga Game
Zone. I quickly darted across the store and leapt over the counter to
secure this new treasure. " I am not worthy," I thought as I went for
my wallet. Never have I been happier to shell out 5 bucks, except for
that time in Mexico when... (Well, that's a different story). Thank
you Amiga Game Zo?ie for giving me a new lease on life.

Steve Fesnandes

Saint John, NB (Canada)

Thank you for this month's obligatory Amiga Game Zone is great" letter!

I DIDN'T agree with your review of Hired Guns - personally it
is boring on one player mode.

B.J. Weiss
Fleetwood, PA

We didn't say it wasn't, and you may be right. My advice is to buy a four
player adapter and then make some friends. Or maybe the other way around.

I AM greatly interested in your products. Would you please send
me your catalog full of your products? Thank you for your time and
cooperation.

Signed

Sadly, this letter was left unsigned even though the word "Signed " was
scribbled on the letter. Mystery writer, why do you taunt us so? Our policy
is that we don't publish unsigned letters, but we were so touched by your
sincerity. We would absolutely love to send you a catalog full of our prod-
ucts" if we only knew your name... Cliff from Philadelphia, is thatyou?

Zipp

erware

626 S. Washington
Seattle, WA 98104
(206)223-1107

I WAS reading a magazine called Diehard GameFan and they
ripped apart the Amiga CD . They claim that Amiga CD-> 2 is not
even in the same class as the 3DO and Jaguar. They also stated that
it is starting to annoy them because it is so terrible. I was thinking
that maybe your readers could write letters to them stating how
ignorant they are. The address is as follows:

THE POSTMEISTER
6400 Independence Ave., Woodland Hills, CA 91367

David O'Connor
Rochester, NY

AMIGA GAME ZONE #1 - $4+$l S/H

If yon don't have our premiere issue, von missed oat
on Alien Breed 2. Hired Guns, and 10 CF>*~ reviews;
n Syndicate players guide; pins cheats to some of the
best games of WS3 (Body Blows. Chaos Engine,
Desert Si rite. Flashback, Lemmings 2, Lost Vikings.
Sitperfrog, ami Syndicate). Order this back issue from
/IGZ at the address above (quantities are limited).

AGA Only Games
Burning Rubber $34.95 Chaos Engine $34.95 Civilization $49.95
D/Generation $34.95 Jurassic Park $36.95 Naughty Ones $34.95
Ryder Golf $34.95 Soccer Kid $39.95 Second Samurai$39. 95

Sim Life $34.95 Star Trek $44.95 Transartica $30.95

Classic Game Compilations
Awards Winners 2 (Zool, Sensible Soccer, Elite, Snooker) $39.95

Combat Classics (F-15 Strike Eagle II, Team Yankee, 688 Sub) $39.95
Combat Classics 2 (F-19 Stealth, Pacific Islands, Silent Service II) $39.95
Dreamlands (Transartica, Storm Master, Ishar) $39.95

Excellent Games (Populous II, James Pod 2, Shuttle, Pool) $44.95

ECS/AGA Titles

Dune II $39.95 Liberation (ECS/AGA) $39.95

Seek & Destroy (ECS/AGA) $34.95 Mortal Kombat $34.95

CD32

Arabian Nights, Barnes Soccer $24.95

Castles 2, D/Generation, Diggers, Fire Force, Labyrinth of Time

Mean Arena, Nigel Mansell Racing, Oscar, Pirates Gold, James Pond 2

Trolls, Whale's Voyage, Zool $39.95

Liberation $44.95

All Hits Karaoke (14 songs: Angel Eyes, Melt With You, Paradise By

the Dashboard Light, What A Wonderful World, Why Don't We

Get Drunk, You Shook Me All Night Long, others.) $34.95

Free Shipping with two or more CD titles.

Airborne Express Select Delivery (next day in most cases) just $6.95' : '

We are an Amiga Dealer.
Amiga 1200/4000/CD32 in stock. Please call.

The fine print: Send check/money order or call with Visa/Mastercard.

Shipping and handling: All software orders $4.00 US/Canada,

$7.00 foreign. COD accepted, $20.00 minumum order, add $4.00.

Prices subject to change. Airborne Express $6.95 up to 2 lbs., call

for additional charges over 21bs. Thanks for you support..

-i

®_

in
in

It is a short list, as lists of Amiga games go, but
it is written in golden script.

David Braben has never been espe-
cially prolific in his published work
- Frontier took five years to
complete - and his games to date haven't
even been notably Amiga-specific. (Frontier
is the first Braben game to initially appear
on the Amiga). Nevertheless, the handful of
Braben-authored Amiga games that exist -
and most of those to which he has
contributed - have the pure and simple scent
of greatness.

Actually, that is the least tangible of a
number of common bonds. All the games
are 3D. All are bound up in some fashion
with polygons. All are vaguely open ended,
destination: where-you-will. All are sim-
like, and yet not quite sims. And all are
quietly, intuitively playable, without any
broken-dam torrent of features. The list
starts with ...

ELITE (RAINBIRD, 1988)

Well, that about says it, doesn't it? I
could just shut my big mouth and end this
section right here. Had Braben done noth-
ing else, he would be remembered for Elite.

This is the game that launched a thou-
sand spaceships... 999 of which probably
crashed and burned while trying to dock
with a space station. This space trading
game - playable to a fault in its day and
influential beyond telling after it - inspired
"Braben = The Lord Thy God" devotion
from gamers who occupied small lifetimes
doing things the hard way.

Which, as it happens, was also the only
way, as Elite - a stripped-down Frontier, in
many respects - was not nearly so well
supplied in handy-dandy, universe-in-my-
pocket tools as Elite II. I have read accounts
of people playing this game for 10 years, and
I believe them. After all, when you have to
work hard at something to be good at it -
a quality too rare in present-day games -

familiarity and love come easy. For some
folks, Elite was a night job, and a tough one
at that.

There's no denying its popularity, or
that it set the standard for games like
Federation of Free Traders that followed.
And yet there seem to be two schools of
thought on Elite Amiga these days.

1) How dare you say, "There are two
schools of thought." We were put on Earth
to play it.

2) It is more like an affable elder states-
man who's not quite in the loop anymore. It
has some charm and some good stories to
tell, but once you've heard its stories and
experienced the charm, you'd be better off
hanging with one of its proteges.

That second reaction (mine) is doubt-
less in some measure a product of the game's
age. Released first in 1984 for the BBC
Micro, Elite came to the Amiga late in its
own history but rather early in the Amiga's,
and six years later, in the wake of Frontier,
that fateful combination makes it something
of a museum piece. The music - Strauss'
Blue Danube waltz - remains peerless, but
not much else was done to it, and the
newcomer may now find the game feels like
a visitor from a different era.

VIRUS (RAINBIRD, 1988)

Almost anything that Rainbird
released in its late-'80s heyday is worth a
good look - look for a Rainbird diskography
in a future O-Zone - and so it is with this
odd bird. Imagine Britannica's Archipelagos
as an external-view flight sim instead of a
strategy/puzzle game, or a Thrust 3D, and
you'll start to have a clue. At its heart, Virus
is an action game. Aliens are attacking -
aliens always seem to be attacking some-
where - and spreading an unpleasant red
virus. You have to zap 'em before they
pollute the whole landscape.

The controls are elusive at first - it's

easy to go ballistic when you just meant to
go - and the hoverplane's wedge shape
always made me wonder which way it was
going to head. But the game has a decided
eye for detail (what with houses, palm trees
and fish jumping in the seas), the 3D engine
can't be faulted (Virus runs like a demon on
the most basic machine) and the game has
an effortless appeal. You'd swear there was
more to it than shooting. Cheap at twice the
price.

CONQUERER (RAINBOW ARTS, 1990)

Often attributed to Braben, this
WWII-era tank game (the precursor to
Campaign) is actually the work of one
Jonathan Griffiths. But it does use the 3D
graphics routines that Braben devised for
Virus - you'll identify the connection right
off the bat - and that contributes in no small
measure to the game's slow-burn appeal. It's
like playing in a thick fog.

So what's on the other side of the
Frontier? More Frontier, it looks like. In a
phone interview from the UK, Braben indi-
cated an A1200 version of Frontier is likely
and a CD-" version was just released.
Modules for the original are also planned for
"some time in the future" - including the
alien races much-sought (and not found) by
Frontier devotees.

Don't look for the bitmapped polygons
of the IBM version on the A1200, however;
Braben indicates the Amiga's method for bit
mapping would slow down the the game too
much. The principal changes there will
instead be speed - the code optimized for
the '020 processor and the blitter used
differently. (The game on an unaccelerated
1200 is stodgy.) The detailed polygons may
surface on the CD , but Braben indicated
that, even with the console's chunky-to-
planar graphics conversion chip, the speed
still might suffer.

Either way, even with a little tarnish,
gold is still gold. ■

H4MB0DY

■4

its*

fdAiM'

tKjiniPsK, *c» '*« *«*_

YOUR SOURCE FOR AMIGA, AGA & CD32!

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Full text of "Amiga Game Zone - Issue 2 (1994-05)(Amiga Game Zone)(US)"

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